Consumer Protection

  • March 17, 2026

    FPI, Apartment Owners Reach $7M Deal In Wash. AG's Tenant Suit

    California-based property manager FPI and owners of five low-income apartment complexes have agreed to pay $7 million to end the Washington attorney general's lawsuit accusing them of exploiting senior tenants by overstating property qualities and withholding information about future rent rises, according to an agreed order finalized Monday.

  • March 17, 2026

    FCC OKs Alaska Plan Changes As Tribe Moves To New Village

    GCI Communication Corp. won't have to continue to provide service to an Alaskan Native village in the state's eroding coastal lowland after its population moved on to new territory that was gained in a land swap with the federal government, the Federal Communications Commission has ruled.

  • March 17, 2026

    OpenAI, Musk Can't Argue Over Wealth In $38M Fraud Trial

    A California federal judge laid out the ground rules for an upcoming April jury trial on Elon Musk's claims OpenAI duped him into donating $38 million, barring evidence regarding the "wealth or lack thereof of any party," unless the dispute reaches the punitive damages stage, which the judge called "unlikely."

  • March 17, 2026

    Mich. AG Joins Fair Housing Laws Fight Against HUD Guidance

    Michigan's attorney general spoke Tuesday about joining 15 states and the District of Columbia in a California federal suit claiming the Trump administration undermines enforcement of fair housing laws by threatening to halt funding for local government programs protecting people discriminated against for gender and sexual orientation, among other things.

  • March 17, 2026

    Bettor Pushes For Early Win In Fanatics Wager Limits Suit

    A Michigan bettor has asked a federal court to hand him a partial summary judgment win against a sportsbook owned by Fanatics Inc., claiming the platform illegally let users instantly raise their own betting limits in violation of consumer protection rules in multiple states.

  • March 17, 2026

    China Surveillance Makes Radio Conference Harder, Senate Told

    China's ability to monitor foreign visitors from the moment they step onto its soil will make it harder for U.S. officials to navigate next year's critical treaty-making conference on radio spectrum rules in Shanghai, experts told the U.S. Senate Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    Biden Admin's Definition Of ERISA Fiduciary Erased

    A Texas federal judge on Tuesday vacated regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor that would have expanded the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under federal benefits law, changes that a collective of insurance groups said the federal agency didn't have the authority to make.

  • March 17, 2026

    Kalshi Hit With First Criminal Betting Charges In Arizona

    Arizona has laid criminal gambling charges against prediction market platform Kalshi, becoming the first state to do so among a slew of others pressuring the company to disallow users from betting on sporting events.

  • March 17, 2026

    Lawmakers Want More Oversight For Antitrust Settlements

    Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that would give courts more power to review settlements reached in government antitrust cases, after the U.S. Department of Justice recently cut a pair of controversial deals, including with Live Nation last week.

  • March 17, 2026

    Fla. Judge Orders Consumers To Arbitrate Binance Claims

    A Florida federal judge sent two proposed class suits against Binance to arbitration Monday after finding that the arbitration provision of Binance's terms of use applied to the investors' claims that the exchange laundered stolen cryptocurrency.

  • March 17, 2026

    Apple Seeks Sanctions For 'Unrelenting' Antitrust Depo Efforts

    Apple urged a California federal judge to sanction iPhone users' counsel over their allegedly "unrelenting and increasingly egregious" subpoena efforts in antitrust litigation accusing Google of suppressing rival search engines with anticompetitive deals, arguing the consumers are fishing for evidence to try to improperly reinstate Apple as a defendant.

  • March 17, 2026

    House Panel Advances Bill Aimed At Curbing ERISA Litigation

    A GOP-led panel in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced legislation that would raise the pleading standards for proposed class action federal benefits lawsuits and delay the start of discovery in those disputes, with Democrats on the committee voting to oppose the legislation. 

  • March 17, 2026

    Texas Man Asks Justices To Undo Samsung Battery Suit Win

    A man who claims a Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. battery exploded in his pocket is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his case, arguing the Fifth Circuit wrongly applied an exception that allows companies to evade jurisdiction in states where they do business by claiming they marketed the products to manufacturers, not consumers.

  • March 17, 2026

    Google Wants Cutoff Date For Ad Tech Rivals' Claims

    Google moved to tee up a dismissal bid aimed at cutting key targeted policies from New York federal court antitrust claims from rival advertising placement technology providers, arguing that its "sophisticated" competitors cannot get around a four-year statute of limitations pegged to the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit.

  • March 17, 2026

    'No Disrespect' But Law Prof Mom Not SBF's Atty, Judge Says

    A federal judge in Manhattan cautioned retired Stanford Law School professor Barbara Fried, the mother of convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, that she cannot make filings on behalf of her son in his bid for a new trial, saying she has not filed an appearance with the court.

  • March 17, 2026

    Mich. AG Says Robinhood Gets Notice Until Injunction Sorted

    A federal judge signed off Monday on an agreement between Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Robinhood Derivatives LLC, stating that the attorney general's office must give 48 hours' notice if it plans to take enforcement action against the securities trading company for sports betting.

  • March 17, 2026

    Motorists Lose Bid To Challenge Chicago Skyway Toll Hikes

    An Illinois federal judge has dismissed for good a putative class action claiming the companies in charge of a major toll road leading into Chicago have increased certain tolls more than they're allowed under their lease agreement with the city, saying alternative routes exist, but the plaintiffs willingly paid the advertised rates and "got what they bargained for."

  • March 17, 2026

    9th Circ. Pauses Ban On Perplexity Bot's Amazon Shopping

    The Ninth Circuit has paused an order from a lower court that banned the Perplexity AI Inc.-made bot Comet from shopping on Amazon while an appeal of the order plays out.

  • March 17, 2026

    NJ Restaurant Beats Customer's Suit Over E. Coli Poisoning

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a suit over severe injuries suffered by a restaurant customer after eating an E. coli-contaminated salad, rejecting his attempt to categorize the case as a breach-of-contract claim.

  • March 17, 2026

    HUD Delays Eviction Rule Change, Nonprofits Drop Lawsuit

    Plaintiffs suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for rescinding a COVID-era eviction rule without notice and comment dropped their case Monday, saying the agency had agreed to "indefinitely delay" the rule change's implementation and convert it from an interim rule to a proposed rule for now.

  • March 17, 2026

    2nd Circ. Kills Contempt Order In Starbucks False Ad Suit

    A New York federal judge overstepped in holding an attorney in contempt for filing what the lower court deemed a "meritless" false advertising lawsuit over the amount of potassium in a Starbucks coffee flavor, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    NY Accuses Solar Co., Lenders Of $275M Homeowner Fraud

    New York's attorney general sued a solar panel company and two lending partners in New York state court Tuesday, accusing them of a $275 million scheme involving costly solar and home improvement projects falsely pitched to homeowners as free or subsidized.

  • March 17, 2026

    Apple Can't Shake Most PFAS Claims In Smartwatch Suit

    A California federal judge won't let Apple Inc. escape a proposed class action alleging that the wristbands of its Apple Watch products contain dangerous forever chemicals, saying the complaint is sufficient to allege that the company knew of the risks but didn't warn consumers.

  • March 16, 2026

    Stryker Hit With Suit Over Cyberattack Reportedly Tied To Iran

    A former customer service representative for Stryker has filed a proposed class action against the medical technology company after it was the target of a cyberattack reportedly linked to an Iranian hacker group, claiming that the company's security failures led to the health information of potentially millions of individuals being compromised.

  • March 16, 2026

    Md. Appeals Court Upholds Ax Of MedStar Data Sharing Suit

    A Maryland state appeals court refused to revive a proposed class action accusing MedStar Health Inc. of illegally sharing patients' personal information with Facebook and Google, finding that the type of data that was allegedly divulged isn't protected by the state's wiretap statute.

Expert Analysis

  • AI-Generated Doc Ruling Guides Attys On Privilege Risks

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    A New York federal court's ruling, in U.S. v. Heppner, that documents created by a defendant using an artificial intelligence tool were not privileged, can serve as a guide to attorneys for retaining attorney-client or work-product privilege over client documents created with AI, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Exploring Good Faith And Bad Faith, From Dock To Doorstep

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    Evolving in different contexts, property and maritime insurance take almost opposite views on the foundational concepts of good faith and bad faith, but, as evidenced by two recent decisions, they dovetail on the idea that trust is the currency of risk, says Nicole Connors at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Breaking Down The Expanded Reach Of Florida Caller ID Bills

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    Both chambers of the Florida Legislature are currently considering bills that would impose strict caller identification requirements on companies doing business in the state, but as drafted, they reach far beyond bad actors, affecting any business that places calls or sends text messages to Florida consumers, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

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    For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

  • The Challenges Of Detecting Event Contract Manipulation

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    While concerns about possible manipulation and insider trading in event contracts have increasingly been raised by market observers, distinguishing a speculative position from a hedge and effective surveillance make regulation difficult, particularly as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission argues for exclusive jurisdiction to do so, say economic consultants at the Brattle Group.

  • Record FCA Recoveries Signal Intensified Healthcare Focus

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    In its recently released False Claims Act statistics, the U.S. government's emphasis on record healthcare recoveries and government-initiated healthcare matters last year indicates robust enforcement ahead, though the administration's focus on current policy objectives also extends beyond the healthcare sector, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • Methods For Challenging State Civil Investigative Demands

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    Ongoing challenges to enforcement actions underscore the uphill battle businesses face in arguing that a state investigation is prohibited by federal law, but when properly deployed, these arguments present a viable strategy to resist civil investigative demands issued by state attorneys general, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Reel Justice: 'Sentimental Value' And Witness Anxiety

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    "Sentimental Value" reminds us that anxiety can interfere with performance, but unlike actors, witnesses cannot rehearse their lines or control the script, so a lawyer's role is not to eliminate stress, but to create conditions where the accuracy of a witness's testimony survives under pressure, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

  • Calif.'s Civility Push Shows Why Professionalism Is Vital

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    The California Bar’s campaign against discourteous behavior by attorneys, including a newly required annual civility oath, reflects a growing concern among states that professionalism in law needs shoring up — and recognizes that maintaining composure even when stressed is key to both succeeding professionally and maintaining faith in the legal system, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

  • How The Fashion 'Dupe' Economy Is Redefining IP Strategies

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    Fashion brands' recent experiments with unconventional trademark strategies highlight the growing impact that "dupe" versions of luxury items are having on the fashion market, as well as growing pressure points in trademark and trade dress law, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Opinion

    SNAP Rule Confusion Risks A Compliance Crisis

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    Recent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food restriction waivers pose a compliance crisis for legal practitioners advising food retailers, amid higher costs and lack of a coherent national standard, says Tyson-Lord Gray at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

  • Tips For Consumer Finance GCs Navigating AI In Pro Se Suits

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    There are several avenues for consumer finance in-house counsel to make artificial intelligence use disclosure requirements a standardized tool when facing pro se litigants, including preservation demands and discovery requests to ease friction and root out inaccurate legal representations, says Lee Barrett at Planet Home Lending.

  • Should Prediction Markets Allow Trading On Nonpublic Info?

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    Recent trading activity, such as the Polymarket wager on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has raised questions about whether some participants may be engaging in trading that is based on material nonpublic information, and highlights ongoing uncertainty about how existing derivatives and anti-fraud rules apply to event-based contracts, say economic consultants at the Brattle Group.

  • FCC Satellite Co. Action Starts New Chapter For Team Telecom

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    The Federal Communications Commission's recent settlement with satellite company Marlink marks a modest but meaningful step forward in how the U.S. regulates foreign involvement in its telecommunications sector, proving "Team Telecom" conditions are not limited to companies with substantial foreign ownership, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Series

    Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

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