Consumer Protection

  • February 18, 2026

    Genetic Testing Co.'s Acquisition Draws Privacy Suit

    Healthcare technology company Tempus AI illegally compelled a genetic testing company to disclose its "massive trove" of genetic data through acquisition and then further disclosed affected individuals' private data to other companies without consent, an Illinois mother told a federal court.

  • February 18, 2026

    Smith & Wesson Gets Suit Over Tracking Cookies Pared Down

    A California federal judge has cut state wiretap law and several other claims from a proposed class action accusing Smith & Wesson of illegally gathering browsing data from website visitors who rejected the use of tracking cookies, while preserving allegations that the firearm manufacturer facilitated third parties' privacy intrusions.

  • February 18, 2026

    Birkin Bag Fans Appeal Hermès' 'Predetermined' Antitrust Win

    Shoppers urged the Ninth Circuit Wednesday to revive their proposed class action accusing Hermès of illegally tying the sale of its iconic Birkin handbags to other expensive luxury items, arguing that the lower court erroneously "predetermined" the outcome of their case even before they filed their latest complaint.

  • February 18, 2026

    Zuckerberg Testifies That Social Media Doesn't Harm Teens

    Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Wednesday in a landmark California bellwether trial on claims his company and Google's YouTube harm children's mental health, saying the current scientific literature shows no causal link between social media and teens' mental health.

  • February 18, 2026

    Trans Health Org Sues To End 'Unconstitutional' FTC Inquiry

    The World Professional Association for Transgender Health on Wednesday sued over the Federal Trade Commission's recent consumer protection investigation into the major transgender medical group, claiming the probe is an unconstitutional attack aimed at undermining access to gender-affirming care.

  • February 18, 2026

    Duke Energy's $17M Fuel Cost Recovery Improper, Panel Says

    The North Carolina Utilities Commission was wrong to let Duke Energy recover over $17 million in fuel costs two years after they were incurred, a North Carolina appeals court panel ruled Wednesday, finding that a statute permits utilities to recover only the fuel costs incurred during a one-year "lookback period."

  • February 18, 2026

    Education Dept. Faces Suit Alleging Double Loan Reporting

    The U.S. Department of Education has been causing student loan balances to appear doubled on borrowers' credit reports, a New York resident alleged in a proposed class action filed Wednesday in New York federal court, saying her $150,000 total loan balance was reported at $300,000.

  • February 18, 2026

    Blue Shield Of Calif. Says 'Ghost Network' Action Falls Flat

    Trouble finding a mental health care therapist is unfortunate but not something that an entire class action can be based on, argued Blue Shield of California, urging a federal judge to dismiss a suit accusing the company of maintaining a "ghost network" directory of providers who don't exist or don't accept new patients.

  • February 18, 2026

    Halfday's 'Gut Healthy' Teas Aren't That Gut Healthy, Suit Says

    Halfday was hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court on Tuesday, alleging it deceptively advertises its iced teas as having "prebiotic benefits" despite the fact that they only contain six grams of soluble fiber, which is unlikely to have any meaningful effect on consumers' gut health.

  • February 18, 2026

    Robinhood Clears Fla. AG Probe Of Crypto Platform Marketing

    Robinhood Markets Inc. told investors on Wednesday that Florida's attorney general has closed an investigation into the marketing practices of its crypto trading arm, ending a probe that had scrutinized whether the company misled customers about trading costs.

  • February 18, 2026

    Government Drops Case Over Referrals-For-Kickback Scheme

    A Texas federal judge tossed an indictment accusing about a dozen physicians and pharmacists of running a sprawling patient referral scheme, ending allegations that the pharmacists gave the doctors kickbacks in exchange for expensive prescriptions fillable at specific pharmacies.

  • February 18, 2026

    Live Nation Antitrust Claims Heading To Trial

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday refused a bid from Live Nation Entertainment Inc. to avoid a looming trial in a case from the U.S. Department of Justice and state enforcers accusing it of monopolizing the live entertainment industry.

  • February 18, 2026

    Live Nation Can't Exit Suit Over Fatal Music Festival Shooting

    A lawsuit against Live Nation over two concertgoers' deaths in a 2023 shooting at the Beyond Wonderland music festival will move forward following a Washington state judge's rejection of the entertainment giant's argument that the event was unforeseeable.

  • February 18, 2026

    BofA Military Interest Cap Suit Should Be Tossed, Judge Says

    A North Carolina federal judge has recommended tossing a proposed class action accusing Bank of America of violating an interest cap law for military service members, saying the veteran plaintiffs have failed to allege any actual violations of federal or state law.

  • February 18, 2026

    Trump Admin Doubles Down At DC Circ. In Fight Over CFPB

    The Trump administration has pressed the D.C. Circuit to lift an injunction barring mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, slamming it as a "sweeping intrusion" on agency management that rests on incorrect speculation about what the end goal is.

  • February 18, 2026

    Reddit Must Face Privacy Suit Over LiveRamp Tracker

    Reddit lost its bid to nix a proposed class action alleging the social media platform violated a California privacy statute by placing a LiveRamp tracker on its website to gather visitor information for targeted advertising, after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the tracker is plausibly a "pen register" under state law.

  • February 18, 2026

    DOJ Allowed To Dictate Pay, Term Of Google Search Watchers

    A D.C. federal judge sided with the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday regarding the key terms of service for the five-member technical committee tasked with observing Google's compliance with mandates to prop up rival search engines with search results and data.

  • February 18, 2026

    FCC Pulls 'Zombies' Named By Inspector General Off Lifeline

    The Federal Communications Commission's chief said Wednesday that people wrongly enrolled in Lifeline as identified by the FCC inspector general have been removed from the telecom subsidy program, amid the FCC floating reforms to tamp down fraud.

  • February 18, 2026

    Mass. Judge Won't Let DraftKings Off Hook In Bonus Suit

    A Massachusetts state judge has refused an early win to DraftKings on claims it ran a misleading promotion for new users of its online sportsbook, with the judge excluding from consideration after-the-fact re-creations of how the fine print was displayed to users. 

  • February 18, 2026

    Judge Rejects FTC's Emergency Bid To Spare Merger Rule

    The Federal Trade Commission has just until Thursday to obtain Fifth Circuit intervention after a Texas federal judge refused Wednesday to extend his seven-day pause on the order scrapping the agency's premerger reporting overhaul.

  • February 18, 2026

    Social Media Cos. Can't Nix Experts In Schools' Health Trial

    The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation claiming social media harms kids' mental health denied bids by Meta, TikTok, Google and SnapChat to block six experts' testimony on the alleged disruption and costs to school districts from a June bellwether trial over a Kentucky school district's claims.

  • February 18, 2026

    Amazon Rips FTC's 'Farfetched' Antitrust Discovery Refusals

    Amazon slammed the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday for treating discovery "as a one-way road" in the agency's antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, calling on a Seattle federal judge to again order the agency to cough up answers that the company says are key to formulating its defense.

  • February 18, 2026

    Meta Pixel Tracking Suit Tossed Over Lack Of Standing

    A North Carolina federal judge has ruled that a prospective class of Nurse.com users lacked standing to sue the website's operator for Video Privacy Protection Act violations for allegedly sharing customers' information with Meta Platforms Inc. without permission.

  • February 18, 2026

    Texas AG Sues Drone-Maker Over Alleged Ties To Chinese Co.

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued a Texas drone-maker, accusing it of selling rebranded DJI drones and posing national security risks given DJI's links to the Chinese Communist Party.

  • February 18, 2026

    Tesla Scores FCC Waiver For EV Positioning Technology

    Tesla has convinced the Federal Communications Commission to make some exceptions to its rules for ultra-wideband devices — specifically a requirement that they be handheld — so that it can use the technology to help its vehicles self-park on charging pads.

Expert Analysis

  • The Tricky Issues Underscoring Prediction Market Regulation

    Author Photo

    Prediction markets are not merely testing the boundaries of commodities law — they are challenging the conventional divisions between gambling regulation and financial market oversight, and in doing so, may reshape both, says Braeden Anderson at Gesmer Updegrove.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

    Author Photo

    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Next Steps For Orgs. Amid Updated OpenAI Usage Policies

    Author Photo

    OpenAI's updates to its usage policies, clarifying that its tools are not substitutes for professional medical, legal or other regulated advice, sends a clear signal that organizations should mirror this clarity in their governance policies to mitigate compliance and liability exposure, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • The SEC Whistleblower Program A Year Into 2nd Trump Admin

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's whistleblower program continues to operate as designed, but its internal cadence, scrutiny of claims and operational structure reflect a period of recalibration, with precision mattering more than ever, say attorneys Scott Silver and David Chase.

  • Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

    Author Photo

    As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

  • Tracking The Evolution Of AI Insurance Regulation In 2025

    Author Photo

    As artificial intelligence continues to transform the insurance industry, including underwriting, pricing, claims processing and customer engagement, state regulators, led by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, are increasing oversight to ensure that innovation does not outpace consumer protections, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation

    Author Photo

    On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

    Author Photo

    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 6 Ways To Nuke-Proof Litigation As Explosive Verdicts Rise

    Author Photo

    As the increasing number of nuclear verdicts continues to reshape the litigation landscape, counsel must understand how to create a multipronged defense strategy to anticipate juror expectations and mitigate the risk of outsize jury awards, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • How AI Exec Order May Tee Up Legal Fights With States

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration's draft executive order would allow it to challenge and withhold federal dollars from states with artificial intelligence laws, but until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation, states may have to defend their regulatory frameworks in extended litigation, says Charles Mills, a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

  • Recent Proposals May Spell Supervision Overhaul For Banks

    Author Photo

    A slew of rules recently proposed by the federal banking agencies with approaching comment deadlines would rewrite supervision standards to be further tailored to banks' size and activities, while prioritizing financial risks over process, documentation and other nonfinancial risks, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level

    Author Photo

    The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

    Author Photo

    Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Where Things Stand At The CFPB As Funding Dries Up

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on pace to run out of funding in the new year, threatening current and future rulemaking efforts, but a rapid series of recent actions still carries significant implications for regulated entities and warrants careful monitoring in the remaining weeks of the year, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Consumer Protection archive.