Consumer Protection

  • October 01, 2025

    Accellion Breach Plaintiffs Get Cert. For Narrow Subclasses

    A California federal judge has agreed to allow plaintiffs to proceed with five subclasses in their dispute with Accellion over allegations the company failed to protect against cyberattacks on its file-sharing software, while finding that a lack of "cohesion" doomed their chances to certify a broader negligence class of roughly 5 million breach victims. 

  • October 01, 2025

    Economist Says Google's Ad Tech Fix Enough To Boost Rivals

    Google's expert economics witness urged a Virginia federal judge Wednesday not to break up the search giant's advertising placement technology business, arguing the company's counterproposal would free up rivals without the "market reengineering" threatened by the Justice Department's proposed remedies.

  • October 01, 2025

    Amazon Must Cough Up Return Records In Consumer Suit

    Amazon must hand over certain information about its returns system to a group of consumers who claim that the company wrongfully denied them refunds for products they sent back, a Washington federal judge has determined, calling some of the company's objections "evasive" and "borderline frivolous."

  • October 01, 2025

    Quantum Can't Nix FTC Order Over $5.2B Natural Gas Deal

    Quantum Energy Partners is not going to be allowed out from under a consent order it inked with the Federal Trade Commission that had allowed a $5.2 billion oil and gas deal with EQT Corp. to go through, the agency has announced.

  • October 01, 2025

    HP Ditches Antitrust Suit Over Third-Party Ink, For Now

    HP customers accusing the printer maker of illegally using a firmware update to block them from using third-party ink cartridges in their machines have not outlined a viable antitrust claim to pursue, but they can try again, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.

  • October 01, 2025

    CFPB 'Will Continue Operations' As Gov't Shutdown Hits

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has told its staff to expect business as usual amid the government shutdown that began Wednesday, assuring them that operations, pay and benefits will continue uninterrupted, according to an internal email obtained by Law360.

  • October 01, 2025

    Biz Groups Say They Can Be Amici In 4th Circ. Pollution Suit

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council on Wednesday told the Fourth Circuit they should be allowed to file an amicus brief on behalf of Chemours in a row over PFAS contamination in the Ohio River, saying that there is nothing barring an association from filing in cases where its members are parties.

  • October 01, 2025

    Trump Moves To Elevate FDIC's Hill To Permanent Chair

    President Donald Trump has nominated the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s acting Chairman Travis Hill to lead the deposit insurer on a permanent basis, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

  • October 01, 2025

    EPA Seeks Dismissal Of Flint Bellwethers, Says It's Not Liable

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has defended its timing of using its authority to issue a Safe Drinking Water Act order regarding lead in the city of Flint's water, urging a Michigan federal judge to dismiss claims from bellwether plaintiffs who alleged the agency was negligent in its response to the crisis.

  • October 01, 2025

    NASCAR Exec Says Team Was Warned About LGB Sponsors

    A NASCAR executive told jurors on Wednesday that driver Brandon Brown's team had previously been warned the league would not sign off on any on-track promotion of the "Let's Go Brandon" phrase, but pursued approval of an LGBCoin sponsorship anyway in a manner the executive said was "disingenuous."

  • October 01, 2025

    States Accuse Zillow, Redfin Of Deal To End Competition

    A coalition of states followed their federal counterparts with an antitrust lawsuit in Virginia federal court Wednesday accusing Zillow of paying Redfin more than $100 million to stop competing for the sale of rental housing advertisements on their listing services.

  • October 01, 2025

    OpenAI Blasts X's Suit Over Apple Deal As 'Lawfare' Campaign

    Apple Inc. and OpenAI Inc. have asked a Texas federal court to toss an antitrust case from X targeting a deal to integrate ChatGPT into iPhones, with OpenAI saying X's billionaire owner Elon Musk is waging a multipronged "lawfare" campaign against it.

  • October 01, 2025

    FCC Sets Furlough Plan In Motion With Government Shutdown

    The Federal Communications Commission's staff halted most regular operations Wednesday as Congress failed to reach a deal to continue funding agencies after the end of the government's fiscal year.

  • October 01, 2025

    Lack Of Concrete Harm Dooms Bojangles Data Breach Case

    The fast-food chain Bojangles has dodged a proposed class action brought by former employees who claim their personal information was stolen in a data breach after a North Carolina federal judge said they failed to show how they were injured as a result of the hack.

  • October 01, 2025

    Mich. Judge Slashes RICO Claims Against Mortgage Lender

    A Michigan federal judge has dismissed the bulk of a proposed class action accusing United Wholesale Mortgage of forcing mortgage brokers to originate loans with UWM instead of shopping around for the best options for borrowers.

  • October 01, 2025

    Va. Biz Group Calls Charter, Cox Tie-Up Good For Consumers

    The Virginia Chamber of Commerce urged the Federal Communications Commission to approve the planned $34.5 billion merger of cable giants Charter and Cox, saying it would be good for consumers as the companies cut costs through scale.

  • October 01, 2025

    Opt-Outs Lacked Clarity About $100M Verizon Deal, Panel Told

    A New Jersey trial court exceeded its authority by validating opt-outs from a $100 million class deal based on signatures transposed from retainer agreements that never mentioned the settlement, counsel for Verizon Wireless told a state appellate panel during oral arguments Wednesday.

  • October 01, 2025

    Software Co. Not Covered For $3M Privacy Fight, Court Says

    Various Travelers units owe no coverage to a software provider that reached a nearly $3 million class action settlement over claims that it violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, a federal court ruled, finding that an exclusion relating to the "access or disclosure" of personal information is applicable.

  • September 30, 2025

    Apple, Google, Meta Get 'Casino Games' MDL Trimmed Again

    A California federal judge on Tuesday again trimmed multidistrict litigation against Apple, Google and Meta platforms over allegedly illicit "social casino games," though he refused to find that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act means they don't have to face the suits.

  • September 30, 2025

    Google Ad Tech Judge Says Court Order Is 'Elephant In Room'

    A Virginia federal judge again wondered Tuesday how far she must go to address Google's advertising placement technology monopolies, asking if a breakup is needed since, no matter what happens, the company will be under a court order banning efforts to put its thumb on the scales of competition.

  • September 30, 2025

    FTC Hits Sendit App Over Kids' Data, Fake Messages

    The operator of the anonymous messaging app Sendit and its top executive have been illegally collecting personal information from children that they're "well aware" were using their service, and tricking users with fake messages and other misleading tactics to entice consumers into buying paid subscriptions, the Federal Trade Commission alleged in a California federal lawsuit. 

  • September 30, 2025

    3rd Circ. Parses 'Could' And 'Would' In Lipitor Lawsuit

    A Third Circuit panel questioned Tuesday whether drug wholesalers and health plans had offered enough evidence that Pfizer Inc. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. conspired to delay generic competition for the cholesterol drug Lipitor, focusing on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have approved the competitor earlier than November 2011.

  • September 30, 2025

    Amazon Settles $1.2M Lawsuit Over Immersion Heater

    Amazon and a Colorado church's insurer have reached a settlement in the insurer's suit alleging that an immersion heater the church purchased from the e-commerce giant's platform to heat a baptismal font caused a fire amounting to $1.2 million in damages.

  • September 30, 2025

    State Telecom Roundup: Age Verification Laws

    State laws requiring that websites verify the ages of users in order to access adult content have been picking up speed in recent years. Half the country now has laws on the books that require certain platforms to confirm that users are adults, a trend proponents say will protect children and that opponents have called an attack on the right to access free speech. Here, Law360 takes a look at some of those laws.

  • September 30, 2025

    LGBCoin Founder Says NASCAR Backtrack Cost $76M

    The attorney behind the LetsGoBrandon.com Foundation told jurors Tuesday that a decision by NASCAR to revoke the approval of its sponsorship of a racing team cost the foundation $76 million and destroyed the value of its cryptocurrency LGBCoin.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At Trump Admin's Shifting Strategies To Curtail CFPB

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    The Trump administration has so far carried out its goal of minimizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's authority and footprint via an individualized approach comprising rule rollbacks, litigation moves and administrative tools, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Evading DOJ Crosshairs As Data Security Open Season Starts

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice begins enforcing its new data security program — aimed at preventing foreign adversaries from accessing government-related and personal sensitive data — U.S. companies will need to understand the program’s contours and potential pitfalls to avoid potential civil liability or criminal scrutiny, say attorneys at Cohen & Gresser.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • A Look At DOJ's Dropped Case Against Early Crypto Operator

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    The prosecution of an early crypto exchange operator over alleged unlicensed money transmission was recently dropped in Indiana federal court, showcasing that the U.S. Justice Department may be limiting the types of enforcement cases it will bring against digital asset firms, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • 4 Consumer Class Action Trends To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

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    The first half of 2025 has seen a surge of consumer class action trends related to online tools, websites and marketing messages, creating a new legal risk landscape for companies of all sizes, says Scott Shaffer at Olshan Frome.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • 3 Cautionary Tales For Cos. Using Facial Recognition Tech

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    Whether a business intends to develop its own facial recognition applications or contract with another company to use such services, three recent case studies should be kept in mind to help lower the risk of litigation or regulatory enforcement, says Adam Nyenhuis at Hilgers Graben.

  • Rising Enforcement Stakes For Pharma Telehealth Platforms

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    Two pieces of legislation recently introduced in Congress could transform the structure and promotion of telehealth arrangements as legislators increasingly scrutinize direct-to-consumer advertising platforms, potentially paving the way for a new U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy with bipartisan support, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims

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    A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Rocket Mortgage Appeal May Push Justices To Curb Classes

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    Should the U.S. Supreme Court agree to hear Alig v. Rocket Mortgage, the resulting decision could limit class sizes based on commonality under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Evidence as opposed to standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, say attorneys at Carr Maloney.

  • 3 Judicial Approaches To Applying Loper Bright, 1 Year Later

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    In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in its Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, a few patterns have emerged in lower courts’ application of the precedent to determine whether agency actions are lawful, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • How State AG Consumer Finance Enforcement Is Expanding

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau becomes less active, state attorneys general are increasingly shaping the enforcement landscape for consumer financial services — and several areas of focus have recently emerged, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Businesses Need To Know To Avoid VPPA Class Actions

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    Divergent rulings by the Second, Sixth and Seventh Circuits about the scope of the Video Privacy Protection Act have highlighted the difficulty of applying a statute conceived to regulate the now-obsolete brick-and-mortar video store sector in today's internet economy, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

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    My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

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