Consumer Protection

  • July 01, 2025

    Valve Can't Sue Firms Over Alleged Gamer Arbitration Scheme

    Valve Corp. cannot sue two law firms over a purported scheme to manipulate arbitration pacts between the video game seller and its customers, a Washington state appellate court has ruled, recognizing that the firms are shielded from liability because their actions were part of their work representing the consumers.

  • July 01, 2025

    5th Circ. Backs Dallas Short-Term Lending Ordinance

    The Fifth Circuit denied a short-term lender's request for a court order blocking a Dallas city ordinance that created new hurdles for lenders, saying Tuesday the short-term lender did not demonstrate that the ordinance would shut down the industry.

  • July 01, 2025

    FCC Drops $2.6M Kid TV Ad Fine, Lets Sinclair Settle

    The Federal Communications Commission is going to let Sinclair Broadcast Group LLC slide by with a "voluntary contribution" of $500,000 instead of the $2.6 million forfeiture the agency had proposed for running more commercials than it was allowed to during children's TV programs.

  • July 01, 2025

    Weichert, EXp Can't Pause Mo. Broker Fees Antitrust Case

    A Missouri federal judge rejected Weichert Co. and eXp's bids to stay an antitrust class action accusing the National Association of Realtors and multiple brokerages of conspiring to artificially inflate buyer-broker commission fees.

  • July 01, 2025

    Google Wants Texas Ad Tech Trial To Wait On DOJ Judge

    Google has asked a Texas federal judge to delay the looming August trial in a case from state enforcers targeting its advertising technology until after a Virginia federal judge issues her final judgment in a similar case by the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • July 01, 2025

    Turkey Cos. Must Face Price-Fix Suit From Litigation Funder

    An Illinois federal judge rejected a summary judgment bid from major turkey processors fighting a price-fixing antitrust suit, ruling that a litigation funding company can continue to pursue claims against the poultry processors as a stand-in for wholesale food distributor plaintiffs.

  • July 01, 2025

    DC Circ. OKs Trump Firing Of Privacy Board Dems, For Now

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday halted a lower court's order that blocked the Trump administration from firing two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, suggesting in a per curiam order that members of the oversight board lacked adjudicatory functions that could shield them from termination.

  • July 01, 2025

    Apple Backers Raise Price, Privilege Concerns At 9th Circ.

    Trade groups and advocacy organizations have raised a series of concerns with the Ninth Circuit about a federal district court mandate blocking Apple from charging commissions on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems, arguing an Epic Games Inc. injunction redux improperly compels speech, imperils price-setting autonomy and threatens legal privilege.

  • July 01, 2025

    State AGs Sue Gov't To Halt Medicaid Data Sharing With ICE

    A California-led coalition of nearly two dozen state attorneys general is pushing a federal court to stop the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from giving immigration officials "unfettered access" to Medicaid recipients' personal health information, arguing that the sharing flouts decades of policy and practice.

  • July 01, 2025

    Cash App Parent Co. To Settle Spam Text Suit For $12.5M

    Block Inc., the parent company of mobile payment service Cash App, has made a $12.5 million settlement with customers who allege that they were bombarded with "annoying and harassing spam texts" from the company.

  • July 01, 2025

    4th Circ. Affirms CVS Win In Vaccine Injury Suit

    CVS Pharmacy can't be held liable for the chronic neurological injuries a woman suffered due to the allegedly improper injection of two vaccines, the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday in a published opinion, noting that federal law shields the company for one of the shots, and it's unclear which caused the harm.

  • July 01, 2025

    The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

    The term's sharpest dissents often looked beyond perceived flaws in majority reasoning to raise existential concerns about the role and future of the court, with the justices accusing one another of rewarding executive branch lawlessness, harming faith in the judiciary and threatening democracy, sometimes on an emergency basis with little briefing or explanation.

  • July 01, 2025

    All Eyes On Congress After FCC Subsidy's High Court Win

    Supporters of the Federal Communications Commission's subsidies for phone and broadband service notched a clear win at the U.S. Supreme Court last week when justices upheld the Universal Service Fund's levy on telecom companies, but lawmakers now face pressure to beef up the $9 billion program's revenue sources.

  • July 01, 2025

    Judge Advances Shaq And FTX Investors' $1.8M Deal

    A $1.8 million settlement between FTX investors and former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has received preliminary sign-off from a Florida federal judge in a step toward confirming the deal that would resolve claims that the retired NBA star misled FTX investors with his alleged promotion of the now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange.

  • July 01, 2025

    Banking Groups Call For Indexing Of Regulatory Thresholds

    The American Bankers Association and its state counterparts are urging federal regulators to prioritize updating thresholds that trigger heightened supervisory obligations to account for inflation and the growth of the banking sector, arguing that the current standards unintentionally subject some institutions to burdensome requirements.

  • July 01, 2025

    Justices Face Busy Summer After Nixing Universal Injunctions

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit nationwide injunctions was one of its biggest rulings of the term — a finding the court is likely going to be dealing with all summer. Here, Law360 takes a look at the decision, how it and other cases on the emergency docket overshadowed much of the court's other work, and what it all means for the months to come.

  • July 01, 2025

    Mobile Cos. Applaud Senate Revival Of Spectrum Auctions

    The wireless industry on Tuesday praised the Senate's narrow passage of a budget reconciliation package that directs the federal government to identify and auction hundreds of megahertz of electromagnetic spectrum for private companies' use.

  • July 01, 2025

    Hurricane Beryl Lawsuits Combined Into MDL

    The Texas Multi-District Litigation Panel has agreed to consolidate cases stemming from a July 2024 hurricane into an MDL.

  • July 01, 2025

    Oppenheimer Drops Suit Over Ex-Adviser's Ponzi Scheme

    Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. has dropped its suit against three North Carolina residents challenging whether they are entitled to arbitrate their case against the financial services giant over a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a former employee, court records show.

  • July 01, 2025

    Texas Law Shield Must Face Revived Client Solicitation Suit

    A Texas appeals court has revived an anti-barratry lawsuit accusing a legal organization that advises people hit with firearms-related actions of illegally and unethically marketing attorney services during a training session on active shooters in late 2022, finding that fact issues raised in the case had not been addressed.

  • July 01, 2025

    NY AG Urges Lawmakers To Strengthen Stablecoin Legislation

    New York's Attorney General Letitia James is calling on U.S. lawmakers to strengthen pending bills to regulate so-called stablecoins in a letter made public Tuesday that argued neither the House nor the Senate's proposals contain the necessary guardrails to protect consumers.

  • July 01, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Walmart's 'Raw Honey' False Ad Dismissal Win

    A Walmart customer who accused the retail giant of falsely labeling processed honey as raw or organic "pled himself out of court" by acknowledging the product's higher chemical compound levels could have other obvious explanations beyond simply overheating, the Seventh Circuit said Tuesday.

  • July 01, 2025

    House Report Says Ad Group Colluded With Foreign Gov'ts

    The World Federation of Advertisers' digital safety initiative targeted conservative voices with a digital advertising pressure campaign meant to "undermine American civil liberties" and "limit" consumer choice up until the project's discontinuation last year, according to a new report from the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee.

  • July 01, 2025

    Proxy Firms Don't 'Solicit' Investor Votes, DC Circ. Rules

    A D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday ruled that proxy advisory firms do not "solicit" proxy votes, thus denying a manufacturing industry group's attempt to revive a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule regulating those firms.

  • July 01, 2025

    Pool Co. Can Sell Off Inventory On Amazon Despite Sales Ban

    A bankrupt swimming pool equipment company can sell off its remaining inventory on Amazon notwithstanding a contempt order that largely bans its Chinese parent company from selling products in the United States, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Current Antitrust Zeitgeist May Transcend Political Parties

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    The Trump administration's "America First" antitrust policy initially suggests a different approach than the Biden administration's, but closer examination reveals key parallels, including a broad focus on anticompetitive harm beyond consumer welfare and aggressive enforcement of existing laws, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Neb.'s Cannabis Regulatory Void Poses Operational Risks

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    With the Nebraska Legislature recently declining to advance any cannabis legislation, leaving the state without a regulatory framework for voter-passed initiatives, the risks of operating without clear rules will likely affect patients, providers and caregivers, says John Cartier at Omnus Law.

  • Fla. Bill May Curb Suits Over Late-Night Collections Emails

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    A recently passed Florida bill exempting email communications from the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act's quiet hours ban may significantly reduce frivolous lawsuits aimed at creditors and debt collectors who use email communications to collect outstanding balances from consumers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 4 States' Enforcement Actions Illustrate Data Privacy Priorities

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    Attorneys at Wilson Elser examine recent enforcement actions based on new consumer data privacy laws by regulators in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Texas, centered around key themes, including crackdowns on dark patterns, misuse of sensitive data and failure to honor consumer rights.

  • Google Ad Tech Ruling Creates Antitrust Uncertainty

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    A Virginia federal court’s recent decision in the Justice Department’s ad tech antitrust case against Google includes two unusual aspects in that it narrowly construed U.S. Supreme Court precedent when rejecting Google's two-sided market argument, and it found the company liable for unlawful tying, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Birthright Ruling Could Alter Consumer Financial Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision about the validity of the nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship cases, argued on May 15, could make it much harder for trade associations to obtain nationwide relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement of invalid regulations, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

  • Oft-Forgotten Evidence Rule Can Be Powerful Trial Tool

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    Rule 608 may be one of the most overlooked provisions in the Federal Rules of Evidence, but as a transformative tool that allows attorneys to attack a witness's character for truthfulness through opinion or reputation testimony, its potential to reshape a case cannot be overstated, says Marian Braccia at Temple University Beasley School of Law.

  • FDA Commissioner Speech Suggests New Vision For Agency

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    In his first public remarks as U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Marty Makary outlined an ambitious framework for change centered around cultural restoration, scientific integrity, regulatory flexibility and selective modernization, and substantial enforcement shifts for the food and tobacco sectors, say attorneys at Arnall Golden.

  • Signed, Sealed, Deleted: A Look At The California Delete Act

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    The California Delete Act, proposed Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform regulations, and California Privacy Protection Agency enforcement raise a number of compliance considerations — even for data brokers that have existing deletion processes in place, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • AG Watch: Texas Expands Use Of Consumer Protection Laws

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    In recent years under Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas has demonstrated the breadth of its public interest authority by bringing actions in areas not traditionally associated with consumer protection law, including recent actions involving sports and public safety, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles

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    Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Fledgling Crypto ATM Regs May Be Due For A Growth Spurt

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    As cryptocurrency ATM use and availability become more prevalent within the U.S. financial services ecosystem, states — only a few of which currently have a crypto ATM framework — may need to consider expanding legislation and regulation to accelerate consumer fraud protection practices, says Jason Noto at Polsinelli.

  • The Legal Risks Of US Restrictions On Investments In China

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    The second Trump administration has continued to embrace a more restrictive economic policy toward China, including an ongoing review of further restrictions on the flow of U.S. capital to China, so early planning and enhanced diligence can reduce exposure to the challenges resulting from further restrictions, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Series

    Playing Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Poker is a master class in psychology, risk management and strategic thinking, and I’m a better attorney because it has taught me to read my opponents, adapt when I’m dealt the unexpected and stay patient until I'm ready to reveal my hand, says Casey Kingsley at McCreadyLaw.

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