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Consumer Protection
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March 13, 2024
Google Calls DOJ's 'Fake Privilege' Docs Citation 'Misleading'
The D.C. federal judge weighing the fate of Google's search business should pay no heed to discussions, cited by the Justice Department, from company lawyers in a separate case of "fake privilege" hiding otherwise discoverable evidence, Google has said.
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March 13, 2024
Peloton Beats Wiretapping Suit Over Chat Feature, For Now
Peloton defeated, for now, a proposed privacy class action alleging it uses third-party software to eavesdrop on its website users' communications via its chat function after a California federal judge found the plaintiff doesn't assert that any chat contents were intercepted or that personal, sensitive information was shared.
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March 13, 2024
Meta's 'Expense & Annoyance' Not Enough To Stop FTC Tweak
A D.C. Circuit panel refused late Tuesday to temporarily block proposed Federal Trade Commission tweaks to a $5 billion data privacy settlement aimed at blocking Meta's monetization of children's data — finding the social media giant has not shown it is likely to succeed in its appeal of the changes, nor that it will suffer irreparable harm.
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March 13, 2024
FCC Waives Bank Rating Rule For Rural Auctions For 1 Year
Internet service providers that received letters of credit from banks that took a plunge in the ratings will have an extra year to find a suitably rated financial institution to back them so they can get their rural broadband auction funding, the Federal Communications Commission has declared.
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March 13, 2024
CFPB Slams 'Forum-Shopping' Bid To Halt Card Late-Fee Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is urging a Texas federal judge to refuse bank industry groups' request for an emergency injunction over the agency's recently finalized $8 credit card late-fee rule, arguing their case is too flimsy to justify putting the new rule on hold.
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March 13, 2024
Juul Investor Tells Chancery: 'We Were Trying To Help'
A director of Juul Labs Inc. denied on Wednesday that he kept the company out of bankruptcy in 2022 to profit from his own investments, telling Delaware's Chancery Court that he helped Juul refinance and backstopped millions worth of settlements because he wanted the e-cigarette company to succeed.
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March 13, 2024
Wash. Law Firm, Travelers Settle $136K Theft Coverage Fight
A Seattle law firm and Travelers settled their coverage dispute over an employee's nearly $136,000 worth of unauthorized charges on a credit card, the parties told a Washington federal court.
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March 13, 2024
HP Says It's Upfront About Blocking Ink Cartridges
HP has urged an Illinois federal judge to throw out consumers' claims that it has a monopoly over the replacement-ink cartridge market and used software updates to block consumers from using cheaper rival cartridges in HP printers, saying it "goes to great lengths" to disclose that its printers are intended to work only with cartridges that have an HP security chip.
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March 13, 2024
FCC Seeks $58M Budget Bump Next Fiscal Year
The Federal Communications Commission has sought a roughly $58 million boost in its operating budget for next year, an increase of about 15%, offset by fees levied on regulated industries.
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March 13, 2024
FTC Bid To Block Kroger's $25B Albertsons Deal Set For Aug.
An Oregon federal court has scheduled an August hearing on the Federal Trade Commission's challenge of Kroger's planned $24.6 billion purchase of fellow grocery store giant Albertsons, a deal also under attack by state enforcers in Washington and Colorado.
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March 13, 2024
Flint Found In Contempt Over Lead Pipe Replacement Delays
A Michigan federal judge has found the city of Flint in contempt for dragging its heels on court orders to replace the city's lead pipes after a 2017 settlement, finding that its belated, partial compliance was not enough to avoid the sanction.
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March 13, 2024
FCC Waives Rules So Tribes Can Access Midband Spectrum
The Federal Communications Commission is waiving rules for spectrum over tribal lands, allowing six Native American tribes to obtain licenses for unassigned 2.5 gigahertz spectrum over off-reservation lands in an effort to boost their wireless connectivity.
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March 13, 2024
Beckett Collectibles Says Steph Curry Suit Filed Too Late
Beckett Collectibles has asked a Texas federal court to toss a complaint by Alt Platform over the alleged alteration of a rookie Steph Curry trading card, arguing the statute of limitations has run on the lawsuit's sole claim of negligent misrepresentation.
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March 13, 2024
Customer Support Co. To Pay $3M In DC Misclassification Suit
A customer service company that partners with Comcast and others will shell out $3 million and halt operations in D.C. to end a suit lodged by the district's attorney general claiming the company misclassified workers as independent contractors.
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March 13, 2024
House OKs TikTok Divestment Bill Despite Free Speech Worry
The House voted 352-65 on Wednesday to pass legislation that would require ByteDance Ltd. to divest TikTok or face a ban in the United States, in a vote that transcended party lines.
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March 12, 2024
1st Amendment Only The Start Of Woes Facing TikTok Ban
Federal lawmakers are making an aggressive push to exclude TikTok from the U.S. market unless it severs ties with its Chinese parent company, but First Amendment concerns and questions over the proposal's breadth and its interplay with a recent executive order restricting certain foreign data sales threaten to hinder these efforts.
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March 12, 2024
Terraform Can Retain Dentons In Ch. 11, Firm Will Return $48M
Terraform Labs can hire Dentons US LLP as its special counsel in its Chapter 11 case, a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday, with the firm agreeing to return $48 million of a $70 million retainer that was hit with objections.
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March 12, 2024
Geico Policyholders Lose Cert. Bid In Pandemic Premium Suit
An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday denied class certification in litigation claiming that Geico profited off the COVID-19 pandemic by charging excessive car insurance premiums, ruling that the policyholders who filed the lawsuit had not shown that their damages model could be calculated on a classwide basis.
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March 12, 2024
Wells Fargo Can Arbitrate Cardholders' Suit, Conduent Can't
New Mexico residents who claim Wells Fargo mishandled reports of fraud involving their state-issued debit cards will see their proposed class action claims against the bank sent to arbitration — but their claims against a third-party contractor can stay in court, a federal magistrate judge has determined.
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March 12, 2024
Quaker Hit With False Ad Suit Over Pesticide In Oat Products
The Quaker Oats Co. faces a proposed class action in Illinois federal court alleging it markets its oat-based foods as being safe, healthy and nutritious while touting its commitment to high quality standards, despite omitting the risk of a toxic chemical pesticide in its products.
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March 12, 2024
Binance Investors Must Wait To Depose Ex-CEO, Judge Says
A Florida federal judge has said that the investors suing crypto exchange Binance over alleged money laundering and securities law violations don't need to rush to depose its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, now that his criminal sentencing has been delayed.
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March 12, 2024
ISPs, Public Advocates Debate Need For FCC's Equity Rule
Two major broadband providers on Tuesday disputed the need for the federal government's new, far-reaching rule barring discrimination in broadband deployment, even as public and consumer advocates argued that equitable rollout of high-speed internet remains a national priority.
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March 12, 2024
Pilates Giant Xponential Hid Studio Closures, Investor Says
Executives and directors of fitness brand franchiser Xponential were hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging the company was damaged when media reports uncovered that Xponential had concealed from investors that dozens of its fitness studios had permanently closed and most of its brands were operating at a monthly net loss.
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March 12, 2024
NTIA Releases Rollout Plan For National Spectrum Strategy
The federal government released its long-awaited spectrum strategy on Tuesday, identifying the five telecom bands it plans to study to potentially open up for new, commercial usage.
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March 12, 2024
Amazon Denies Concealing Texts In Alexa Users' Privacy Suit
Amazon has rebuffed claims that it withheld text messages in a proposed class action brought by unregistered Alexa users who alleged they were illegally recorded, arguing the plaintiffs accused the technology giant of yet another failure as discovery closes to "cast aspersions on Amazon's diligence and motives."
Expert Analysis
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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5 Lessons For SaaS Companies After Blackbaud Data Breach
Looking at the enforcement actions that software-as-a-service provider Blackbaud resolved with state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the past year can help SaaS companies manage these increasingly common forms of data breaches, say attorneys at Orrick.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.
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Predicting DeFi Regulations At Home And Abroad In 2024
Though decentralized finance has advocates on both sides of the Atlantic in figures like U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, DeFi in 2024 seems likely to be folded into existing regulatory frameworks in the U.K. and EU, while anti-crypto scrutiny may discourage DeFi’s growth in the U.S., say Daniel Csefalvay and Eric Martin at BCLP.
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Retailers Must Be Mindful Of Sale Ads As Class Actions Rise
A recent uptick in class actions filed against retailers over a breadth of allegedly deceptive pricing practices — including misleading reference prices for sales and discounts offered on a perpetual basis — show no sign of slowing down, indicating that class counsel are laser-focused on challenging advertising strategies, say Louis DiLorenzo and Paavana Kumar at Davis+Gilbert.
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NY's Revamped Card Surcharge Ban Is Unique Among States
Newly revised New York legislation bolsters the state's ban on credit card surcharges, potentially reinvigorating similar laws across the country despite the fact that many of them have been ruled unconstitutional, say Tom Witherspoon and Audrey Carroll at Stinson.
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Understanding SEC's Focus Amid Lack Of Final AI Rules
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules to govern artificial intelligence are likely far from being finalized, understanding existing regulatory provisions that could address AI risks with respect to development, disclosure, compliance and data protection could help firms anticipate and avoid pitfalls, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Legislative And Litigation Trends In Environmental Advertising
Companies that tout their products' environmental benefits can significantly reduce the risk that they will face allegations of greenwashing by staying up to date on related Federal Trade Commission guidance, state requirements and litigation trends, say Raqiyyah Pippins and Kelsie Sicinski at Arnold & Porter.
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What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement
A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
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Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument
Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions
A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.
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CFPB Overdraft Rule Could Mean Big Shift In Banking Biz
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed "to close a longstanding loophole" in the Truth in Lending Act by changing how it regulates overdraft fees, but underneath the headline-grabbing proposal is a foundational shift in how the bureau views overdraft services, say attorneys at Katten.
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Storytelling Strategies To Defuse Courtroom Conspiracies
Misinformation continues to proliferate in all sectors of society, including in the courtroom, as jurors try to fill in the gaps of incomplete trial narratives — underscoring the need for attorneys to tell a complete, consistent and credible story before and during trial, says David Metz at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Navigating The FCC's Rules On AI-Generated Robocall Voices
The Federal Communications Commission's declaratory ruling issued last week extends the agency's regulatory reach under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to calls that use artificial intelligence technology to generate voices, laying out a compliance roadmap, but not making AI-cloned voices in robocalls illegal per se, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.