Consumer Protection

  • March 12, 2024

    Wells Fargo Shortchanges Its Fake-Account Victims, Suit Says

    Wells Fargo has been hit with another proposed class action alleging that the bank engaged in a "deceptive campaign" by sending letters designed to give the appearance of correcting its practice of opening fake customer accounts and enrolling them in products without their consent, but offering no substantial reparations.

  • March 12, 2024

    Amazon Fights FTC Bid To Split Antitrust Trial

    Amazon is urging a Washington federal court to reject a bid from the Federal Trade Commission to split the monopolization case against it into two phases, saying the court will have to consider any potential fixes when deciding if the company violated antitrust law.

  • March 12, 2024

    FEMA Claims Process Leaves NM Fire Victims Lost, Suit Says

    Five New Mexico residents are suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency over its response to a massive 2022 fire, alleging it has created delay, confusion and ambiguity in the claims process for the fire's victims.

  • March 12, 2024

    FTC Appoints Another ALJ To Handle 'Increased Workload'

    The Federal Trade Commission announced the appointment Tuesday of a second administrative law judge, naming a former top antitrust lawyer with the New York Attorney General's Office, with experience representing the left-leaning Open Markets Institute, as the agency presses forward with its aggressive enforcement approach.

  • March 12, 2024

    5 Questions For Former FCC Member Michael O'Rielly

    It's been just over three years since Republican Michael O'Rielly left his seat on the Federal Communications Commission, but a lot of ground has shifted in the telecom space since he left for the private sector.

  • March 12, 2024

    NY Jury Rules Some Claims About Prevagen Are Misleading

    A New York federal jury said some statements made by Quincy Bioscience about its memory booster Prevagen were misleading to consumers but found that most statements about the supplement were made on solid grounds.

  • March 12, 2024

    MV Realty Says NC AG Is Working For Real Estate Industry

    Embattled Florida-based real estate company MV Realty told the North Carolina Supreme Court the state's attorney general is "wielding the power of the state under the guise of consumer protection" to shut down the business at the behest of "entrenched real estate brokerage interests."

  • March 12, 2024

    Wells Fargo Hit With Class Action Over Bounced Check Fees

    Wells Fargo is the latest bank to face claims it unfairly charged customers when checks bounced in their accounts.

  • March 12, 2024

    Walgreens, Kenvue Unit Sued Over Benzene In Acne Products

    Walgreens, Kenvue unit Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. and Genomma Lab face a trio of proposed consumer fraud class actions in California federal court by customers who alleged their acne treatment products contain unsafe levels of benzene, but that each of the companies failed to disclose its presence in their labeling.

  • March 12, 2024

    Apple To Allow Direct Downloads Of Apps In EU

    Apple will start allowing developers to distribute apps directly from their websites in Europe, the latest in a string of changes by the tech giant as it comes into compliance with expansive new regulations under the Digital Markets Act.

  • March 12, 2024

    FTC Welcomes Choice Hotels Dropping Wyndham Hostile Buy

    The Federal Trade Commission's top antitrust staffer said Tuesday that he was "pleased" Choice Hotels International Inc. had given up on a hostile takeover of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, warning that the deal had "posed serious competition questions."

  • March 12, 2024

    Paul Weiss' Digital Tech Chair On AI's Promises And Perils

    While generative artificial intelligence promises to increase access to justice and kill the billable hour, we don't know how to prevent it from unleashing misinformation and disinformation on the electorate, says Katherine Forrest, a former Manhattan federal judge who is now chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's digital technology group.

  • March 12, 2024

    Gold King Mine Contractor Looks To Toss Final Navajo Claims

    An environmental and infrastructure services firm is asking a New Mexico federal judge to dismiss the last three claims the Navajo Nation lodged against it for the Gold King Mine spill in southwest Colorado, which sent several million gallons of hazardous mine waste into area waterways.

  • March 12, 2024

    Customers Drop PFAS Claims Against Conn. Water Co.

    A trio of consumers who accused a Connecticut water company of overcharging them and providing water containing toxic "forever chemicals" withdrew their proposed class action from state court after the company argued it did not get to set its own price rates to begin with.

  • March 11, 2024

    Biden Calls For More Cybersecurity Funding Across Agencies

    The Biden administration on Monday pushed Congress to make significant monetary investments in efforts to bolster the federal government's cybersecurity posture, including by earmarking $13 billion to support initiatives across civilian agencies and devoting additional funding to help the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services combat a growing scourge of cyberattacks on healthcare providers. 

  • March 11, 2024

    Fed, Others Tell Judge New Community Lending Rule Is Legal

    The Federal Reserve Board and other banking agencies say that the American Bankers Association and other groups only sued to rewrite the Community Investment Act for their own ends, asking Friday for a Texas federal judge to reject the plaintiffs' call for a preliminary injunction.

  • March 11, 2024

    Judge Tells Atty 'Not My Job To Go Research' Baby Food

    A California federal judge on Monday appeared open to granting Plum Organics summary judgment on allegations the baby-food-maker failed to disclose potential toxins in its baby food products, doubting that the consumers have supported their claims with admissible evidence and telling counsel, "It's not my job to go research."

  • March 11, 2024

    GOP Bill Would Open Up 2,500 MHz Of Midband Airwaves

    A bill introduced by Republican senators Monday would open 2,500 megahzertz of midband airwaves to private-sector or shared use, with half of that rolling out in the next two years.

  • March 11, 2024

    Amazon Prime Video-Viewing Data Sparks Privacy Fears

    Amazon is accused of illegally disclosing a virtual "warehouse" of private customer data, including what movies subscribers watch on Prime, without letting consumers opt out, according to a proposed class action filed in Washington federal court.

  • March 11, 2024

    Google Search Judge Wary Of NYT Bid To Make Docs Public

    The D.C. federal judge weighing the fate of Google's search business pushed back during a Monday hearing on the New York Times' bid for a large scale unsealing of key contracts at the heart of the Justice Department antitrust lawsuit, although he left any final decisions for another day.

  • March 11, 2024

    Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Uphold GMO Food Labeling Rule

    The federal government and sugar industry groups urged the Ninth Circuit to reject food advocacy groups' attempt to upend a Trump-era organic food labeling rule, saying a California federal judge got it right when he rejected the groups' claims and largely left the rule intact.

  • March 11, 2024

    3rd Circ. Finds No Reason To Disturb AbbVie Privilege Ruling

    The Third Circuit has found that AbbVie was unable to show that a Pennsylvania federal court went against precedent or made an error when ordering the drugmaker to turn over attorney communications from a "sham" patent case allegedly meant to delay AndroGel competitors.

  • March 11, 2024

    Coinbase Asks 3rd Circ. To Force SEC To Set Rules For Crypto

    Crypto exchange Coinbase asked the Third Circuit on Monday to force the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to set rules of the road for digital assets in an opening brief that argued the agency failed to provide "a reasoned explanation" for why it denied an earlier request for crypto rulemaking.

  • March 11, 2024

    FDIC's Crypto Caution Has 'Significant Downsides,' Hill Says

    Travis Hill, vice chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said Monday that the agency's cautious attitude toward cryptocurrency needs more nuance and risks sending the wrong message to banks that they shouldn't even "bother trying" to get involved with anything crypto-related.

  • March 11, 2024

    Landlords' Group Slams FCC Digital Equity Rule In DC Circ.

    A property owners' advocacy group has sued the Federal Communications Commission in the D.C. Circuit, claiming the agency soared well past its legal limits in passing a new broadband equity rule and will put renters' access to internet service at greater risk.

Expert Analysis

  • Aviation Watch: 737 Max Blowout Raises Major Safety Issues

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    The sudden in-flight loss of a side panel on an Alaska Air 737-9 Max last month, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane's cabin, highlighted ongoing quality issues at Boeing, the jet's manufacturer — but the failure also arose from decisions made by the airline, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Mass Arb. Rule Changes May Be A Hindrance For Consumers

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    The American Arbitration Association's recent changes to its mass arbitration supplementary rules and fee schedule, including a shift from filing fees to initiation and per-case fees, may reduce consumers' ability to counteract businesses' mandatory arbitration agreements, say Eduard Korsinsky and Alexander Krot at Levi & Korsinsky.

  • 3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict

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    In one of the latest examples of so-called nuclear verdicts, a single plaintiff was awarded $2.25 billion in a jury trial against Monsanto — revealing the need for defense attorneys to prioritize trust, connection and simplicity when communicating with modern juries, say Jenny Hergenrother and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo

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    Freight forwarders and other nonprincipal parties involved in global cargo movement should follow the guidance in the multi-agency know-your-cargo compliance note to avoid enforcement actions should they fail to spot evasive tactics used in supply chains to circumvent U.S. sanctions and export controls, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Debt Collector Compliance Takeaways From An FDCPA Appeal

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    A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau amicus brief last month in an ongoing First Circuit appeal focusing on an interpretation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can serve as a reminder for debt collectors to understand how their technologies, like bankruptcy scrubs and letter logic, can prevent litigation, says Justin Bradley at Womble Bond.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Bitcoin ETF Approval Doesn't Mean SEC Approves Of Crypto

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval last month of 11 applications for spot exchange-traded funds tracking bitcoin is a landmark moment for the crypto-asset industry, investors who are hopeful that the SEC will approve similar crypto-based ETFs may be disappointed, says attorneys at Mintz.

  • Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand

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    Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Shouldn't Ditch Prior Earned Wage Access Precedent

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    Recent statements from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau general counsel Seth Frotman indicate the CFPB may be concluding that some or all earned wage access products are credit under federal law, but doing so would threaten the existence of the products and cause consumers to turn back to costly alternatives, says Eric Goldberg at Akerman.

  • A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards

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    In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.

  • Aviation Back On Course, But Keep Seat Belts Fastened

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    While the airline industry finally returned to profitability last year for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, and is poised for historic levels of traffic in 2024, supply chain problems and economic and geopolitical uncertainty persist — so more turbulence may lie ahead, say Kevin Lewis and Bart Biggers at Sidley.

  • What Brands Must Know For Calif. Recycle Label Compliance

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    A brand that stamps nonrecyclable packaging with the chasing arrows symbol could face liability under California's new law on labeling recyclable material, so brand owners should keep an eye on the state's pending survey process to identify which materials meet the criteria before requirements go into effect, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • FTC AI Inquiry Signals Intensified Focus On Emerging Tech

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent inquiry into investments and partnerships between Big Tech companies and artificial intelligence startups appears to be directed at guiding future enforcement decisions in competition, privacy and consumer protection — and three principles discussed at a related tech summit give insight on the agency's approach, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Preparing For A New Wave Of Litigation Under Silicosis Rules

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    After the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued an emergency temporary standard to combat noncompliance with assessments of workers' exposure to particles of crystalline silica, companies that manufacture, distribute or sell silica-containing products will need aggressive case-specific discovery to navigate a new wave of litigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

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