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Consumer Protection
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May 07, 2024
Fashion Cos. Say FTC Bid To Ax $8.5B Deal 'Makes No Sense'
The Federal Trade Commission's move to block the owner of Coach and Kate Spade from buying the owner of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo for $8.5 billion "makes no sense," the companies argued in response, saying they aren't the only handbag brands in the game.
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May 07, 2024
FINRA Fines Broker M1 Over Short Sale Identification Errors
Financial services provider M1 Finance has agreed to pay $400,000 to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to settle claims that it failed to correctly identify 12 million short sales, inaccurately marking those orders as "long."
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May 07, 2024
Real Estate Co. Says Privilege, Immunity Don't Protect Trustee
A real estate company says a Chapter 7 trustee overseeing a Connecticut woman's personal bankruptcy cannot invoke the doctrine of qualified immunity or assert a litigation privilege to avoid being countersued for trying to stop a home sale the trustee considered fraudulent.
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May 07, 2024
New IPad Buyers And Complaint OK'd In Amazon-Apple Suit
Two new iPad buyers filed an amended antitrust complaint Tuesday over the Amazon-Apple pact restricting iPhone and iPad sales to approved vendors after a Washington federal judge overrode defense arguments that the named plaintiff swap is too late and replaces an unsuitable class representative.
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May 07, 2024
MultiPlan, Insurance Cos. Accused Of Algorithmic Collusion
A medical provider has lodged a proposed class action in Illinois federal court accusing MultiPlan and major insurance companies, including UnitedHealth, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and Cigna, of using pricing tools to systematically underpay out-of-network providers.
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May 07, 2024
Venable Trade Co-Chair Shares Hot Takes On US Steel-Nippon
Back in December, Venable LLP partner Ashley Craig, co-chair of the firm's international trade group, spoke with Law360 just after U.S. Steel disclosed its agreement to be sold to Nippon Steel. Now, he shares his thoughts on the latest developments, including the White House coming out forcefully against the deal and the U.S. Department of Justice launching a probe into it.
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May 07, 2024
DOJ Says Cross-Border Antitrust Trial Must Stay In Houston
Prosecutors have advised Houston's federal court against transferring a criminal case closer to the border, saying their witnesses fear testifying against defendants charged with using violence to control the cross-border sale of used vehicles and other goods in Central America.
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May 07, 2024
Amazon Says Zulily Lacks Standing To Bring Antitrust Claims
Amazon is asking a Washington federal court to throw out now-defunct online retailer Zulily's lawsuit accusing it of using its monopoly power to shut out competition from other online retailers, arguing that Zulily merely "parrots" allegations made by regulators and has singled out "plainly procompetitive practice."
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May 07, 2024
Gronk, Others To Pay $2.4M In Voyager Crypto Promoter Suit
Retired football star Rob Gronkowski, NBA player Victor Oladipo and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill have agreed to collectively pay $2.4 million to settle allegations they helped promote failed cryptocurrency exchange Voyager Digital Holdings Inc.
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May 07, 2024
Colo. Judge Iffy On DOJ's Missive In Kroger Merger Challenge
A Colorado state judge said he was unsure Tuesday about how to handle the Department of Justice's recent filing defending the state's authority to challenge Kroger's $24 billion merger with Albertsons, as Kroger claimed federal regulators were flip-flopping their antitrust stance.
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May 07, 2024
Atty Dons Muppet Head To Open Sesame Place Race Bias Trial
A federal jury in Philadelphia on Tuesday gazed at the googly eyes and blue fur of an attorney who donned the head of Sesame Street's Grover to tell them that performers wearing the fluorescent bodysuits of other beloved Muppets discriminated against children at a Pennsylvania theme park because of the color of their skin.
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May 07, 2024
CFPB Fines Chime Financial Over Delayed Consumer Refunds
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday ordered fintech company Chime Financial to pay more than $4.5 million for allegedly leaving thousands of its users waiting weeks and sometimes months for their balance refunds after their accounts were closed.
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May 07, 2024
Panera To Nix 'Charged' Drink At Center Of Death Suits
Panera Bread Co. will soon no longer serve its "Charged Lemonade," the caffeinated drink at the center of two lawsuits that claim the restaurant chain is liable for the wrongful death of two patrons.
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May 07, 2024
Russian Charged Over $100M LockBit Ransomware Scheme
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they have charged a Russian national with founding and heading the prolific ransomware group LockBit, which is accused of stealing more than $100 million from its victims.
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May 07, 2024
TikTok Urges DC Circ. To Ax 'Unprecedented' Divestment Bill
TikTok on Tuesday lodged its highly anticipated challenge to a new federal law that would exclude the popular app from the U.S. market unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent company, telling the D.C. Circuit that the measure amounts to an unconstitutional and unprecedented ban on free speech.
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May 07, 2024
Attys Denied $10M Fees As Family Dollar Deal Is Approved
A Tennessee federal judge has given final approval to a settlement to end consumer claims stemming from a rodent infestation at a Family Dollar Stores Inc. warehouse, but denied a bid by class counsel for $10 million in fees.
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May 07, 2024
Birth Control Cos. Can't Dodge Conn. Injury Suit, Court Told
An Illinois woman who sued after her Filshie Clip birth control device migrated inside of her and "wreaked havoc on her body" has urged a state court not to let the manufacturers of the device and the seller's parent companies dodge her claims.
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May 06, 2024
Google's $62M Location-Tracking Settlement Gets Green Light
A California federal judge has granted final approval to Google's $62 million settlement resolving allegations it illegally collected and stored smartphone users' private location information, a deal that includes $18.6 million in fees for the lawyers representing the consolidated class.
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May 06, 2024
Coinbase Operates As Unregistered Broker, Investors Say
Coinbase and its CEO have been hit with a proposed class action in California federal court alleging the crypto exchange "has been a part of a shadowy crypto ecosystem operating just outside of the law since formed over 10 years ago."
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May 06, 2024
Monsanto Says Ruling Undoes $438M School PCB Loss
Monsanto said Friday that a $438 million judgment in a polychlorinated biphenyls poisoning case at a Washington school should be thrown out, citing a recent state appellate court ruling undoing a $185 million jury verdict in a similar case involving chemical-caused illnesses at the same school campus.
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May 06, 2024
New EPA Policy Could Increase Criminal Enforcement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rolled out a new policy intended to foster communication and coordination between its civil and criminal enforcement offices, a move experts say could result in an increase in criminal investigations and cases.
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May 06, 2024
Judge Turns Down Realtek's Patent 'Conspiracy' Case
A California federal judge has found that Taiwanese chipmaker Realtek can't use the federal courts to sue one of its major rivals for allegedly using a "bounty" to fund "patent troll" litigation against it because that doesn't break any federal antitrust laws.
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May 06, 2024
Fed Law Doesn't Preempt Colo.'s Kroger Deal Challenge: DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice weighed in on Kroger and Alberton's arguments that the Colorado attorney general should not be able to challenge their national merger, arguing instead that states have an important solo role and there is nothing stopping a state court judge from blocking a deal regionally.
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May 06, 2024
GM Tells Mich. Justices Not To Heap On More Auto Regulation
General Motors urged the Michigan Supreme Court to reject a call to expand the reach of a state consumer protection law to the automotive industry and others, saying federal and state oversight already protects car buyers.
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May 06, 2024
Crypto Platform's Ex-Brass Charged With $783M Fraud
Three former executives behind bankrupt cryptocurrency investment platform Cred Inc. face wire fraud and money laundering charges after they allegedly lied to customers about the firm's lending and investing practices ahead of a collapse prosecutors say wiped out $783 million in customer crypto.
Expert Analysis
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Past CCPA Enforcement Sets Path For Compliance Efforts
The California Privacy Protection Agency and the California Attorney General's Office haven't skipped a beat in investigating potential noncompliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act, and six broad issues will continue to dominate the enforcement landscape and inform compliance strategy, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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7 Takeaways From CFPB Circular On Digital Comparison Tools
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new guidance regarding digital comparison-shopping platforms for financial services products and services offers fresh insights into the bureau's interpretation of the abusiveness standard and expands on principles underlying its previous guidance on the topic, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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Securing A Common Understanding Of Language Used At Trial
Witness examinations in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump illustrate the importance of building a common understanding of words and phrases and examples as a fact-finding tool at trial, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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How Policymakers Can Preserve The Promise Of Global Trade
Global trade faces increasing challenges but could experience a resurgence if long-held approaches adjust and the U.S. accounts for factors that undermine free trade's continuing viability, such as regional trading blocs and the increasing speed of technological advancement, says David Jividen at White & Case.
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Opinion
Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining
Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.
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Meta Data Scraping Case Has Lessons For Platforms, AI Cos.
The California federal court ruling that artificial intelligence company Bright Data's scraping of public data from Meta social media sites does not constitute a breach of contract signals that platforms should review their terms of service and AI companies could face broad implications for their training of algorithms, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.
The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Legal Issues When Training AI On Previously Collected Data
Following the Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance about the use of customer data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should carefully think through their terms of service and privacy policies and be cautious when changing them to permit new uses of previously collected data, says James Gatto at Sheppard Mullin.
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Protested CFPB Supervisory Order Reveals Process, Priorities
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s order announcing its first use of special oversight power to place installment lender World Acceptance Corp. under supervision despite resistance from the company provides valuable insight into which products and practices may draw bureau scrutiny, and illuminates important nuances of the risk assessment procedures, say Josh Kotin and Michelle Rogers at Cooley.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.
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How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection
Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.