Consumer Protection

  • January 09, 2026

    Wash. Gov. Pitches Bills On AI Chatbots, Vaccines, Housing

    Washington state's governor announced six bills Friday that he's asking lawmakers to pass in the legislative session that kicks off Monday, including measures to increase housing, guard Washingtonians from people posing as law enforcement, reinforce the state's vaccine decision-making authority and establish protections around AI chatbots, particularly for youth.

  • January 09, 2026

    FCC Approves Telecom's New Plan For Alaska Buildout

    An Alaskan telecommunications company has received the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission to deploy its mobile service throughout the far-flung state with federal support, after the new plan showed the firm could triple the number of people for whom it provides service.

  • January 09, 2026

    Furniture Store Employees Get 1st OK For Data Breach Deal

    A North Carolina federal judge has granted preliminary approval in a class action settlement to a former employee of a new and used office furniture company in a data breach lawsuit that's just over a year old.

  • January 09, 2026

    WWE Fans Blast 'Bait And Switch' Scheme Over ESPN Access

    World Wrestling Entertainment fans filed a proposed class action Thursday in Connecticut federal court alleging it executed a "bait and switch" scheme by misleadingly touting they can watch premium live events on ESPN's new streaming service for free if they're existing subscribers, but then charging $30 a month for it.

  • January 09, 2026

    OCC Floats Rule To Clarify Trust Companies' Broader Scope

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is proposing to amend its chartering regulations to make clear that national trust companies can engage in nonfiduciary activities, potentially resolving an area of contention that banking industry advocates have raised as crypto-focused firms applied for trust charters.

  • January 09, 2026

    Paramount Seeks To Toss Privacy Suit Over Kids' Data

    Paramount Skydance Corp. urged a California federal court to toss a "haphazard" proposed class action that accuses the media giant of unlawfully disclosing the personally identifiable information of children who streamed content on their families' devices, saying the kids' parents failed to sufficiently allege any of their claims.

  • January 09, 2026

    Buyers Say Herbal Tea Co.'s 'All Natural' Labels Are False

    A group of tea buyers is suing Celestial Seasonings Inc. in Colorado federal court, saying it falsely advertises its herbal teas as having "All Natural" flavors, when instead the ingredients list includes citric acid.

  • January 09, 2026

    Vending Co. Will Pay Nearly $7M To Hidden Fee Class

    A federal judge in North Carolina on Friday gave final approval to a $6.94 million settlement with food service company Compass Group USA Inc. in a class action alleging it charged customers 10 cents more than the displayed prices for items sold in its vending machines.

  • January 09, 2026

    30 Dems Back Bill Limiting Officials' Prediction Market Trades

    U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., introduced his plan to ban public officials from trading in certain prediction markets on Friday with the backing of 30 House Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

  • January 09, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Suit Over Milliman's 'Fuzzy Matching' Tactic

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a decision tossing one of two classes in litigation accusing consulting firm Milliman of peddling inaccurate information by using a strategy known as "fuzzy" data matching to compile its reports, saying the lower court applied a too-high standard at the summary judgment stage for showing class members were harmed.

  • January 09, 2026

    SpaceX Can Build Up Its Next-Gen Constellation, FCC Says

    The Federal Communications Commission gave its stamp of approval Friday for SpaceX to ramp up its second-generation Starlink satellite system.

  • January 09, 2026

    USTelecom Wants 'More Green Lights' For Broadband In '26

    A key telecom industry group says that if 2025 was marked by continual delays in broadband deployment, 2026 needs to be the year when construction crews actually break ground on federally backed projects.

  • January 09, 2026

    Ky. AG Sues Character.AI Over Harm To Minors, Suicides

    The state of Kentucky is suing the company behind Character.AI, alleging it has failed to implement safeguards to protect children that use the platform to chat with bots from psychological manipulation, self-harm and suicide.

  • January 09, 2026

    Veterinary Group Says DOJ Accreditation Points Irrelevant

    The American Veterinary Medical Association has told a Tennessee federal court that the government's concerns about professional groups are irrelevant to a veterinary school's antitrust case challenging the association's accreditation requirements.

  • January 09, 2026

    CFPB's Vought Backs Down, Seeks Fresh Fed Funding

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Friday that its acting Director Russell Vought has moved to replenish its funding from the Federal Reserve, yielding after a weekslong standoff that left the consumer agency facing potential closure with dwindling cash.

  • January 09, 2026

    Justices Will Weigh FCC's Monetary Penalty Powers

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take a look at the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue fines by announcing it would review both a Fifth Circuit ruling in AT&T's favor curtailing the agency's ability to issue fines using its own in-house legal process and a case that Verizon lost in the Second Circuit.

  • January 09, 2026

    Judge Blocks Edwards' $945M Heart Valve Deal

    A D.C. federal judge issued an order on Friday preventing Edwards Lifesciences Corp. from moving ahead with its planned $945 million deal for JenaValve Technology Inc., torpedoing the merger challenged by the Federal Trade Commission.

  • January 09, 2026

    Couple Fights To Send Annuity Fraud Case To State Court

    A retired U.S. Navy veteran and his wife, who are accusing Ameritas Mutual Holding Co. and Ameritas Life Insurance Company Inc. of orchestrating a fraudulent investment scheme based on the sale of unsuitable equity-indexed annuities, urged a North Carolina federal court to send the case back to state court. 

  • January 09, 2026

    Rakoff Hints 'Baby Shark' Mail-Service Precedent Is Unpopular

    U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Friday critiqued a Second Circuit decision requiring mail service to alleged Chinese infringers of "Baby Shark" trademarks, which he said may slow Google's effort to shutter an alleged China-based global phishing scam.

  • January 09, 2026

    IDEXX Software Defect Blamed For At Least 40 Dog Deaths

    Two Los Angeles-based veterinary clinics say pet healthcare diagnostics company Idexx Distribution Inc. fraudulently concealed a software algorithm defect that allegedly led to at least 40 dogs dying and hundreds of animals getting sick or missing treatment due to false diagnostic testing, according to a new lawsuit in California state court.

  • January 09, 2026

    Virginia Takes Vape Law Fight To 4th Circ.

    Virginia is looking to the Fourth Circuit to overturn a court order partially blocking it from enforcing a ban on flavored vapes, according to a notice filed by the state's attorney general.

  • January 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Vacates Seagate Loss In Hard Drive Price-Fixing Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday resurrected a number of Seagate Technologies' antitrust claims against Japanese manufacturer NHK Spring in a fight over hard drive components, finding that U.S. antitrust laws could indeed apply to the alleged conspiracy in this case even though foreign entities executed transactions abroad.

  • January 08, 2026

    5th Circ. Wary Of Giving Investors Another Go At Lumen Suit

    A Fifth Circuit panel wanted to know why a group of investors should get another shot at a class action against Lumen Technologies Inc. for allegedly covering up its lead-covered copper cables, asking Thursday if the investors told the lower court how they would amend their pleading.

  • January 08, 2026

    Wash. Justices Take Up Pixel Privacy Suit Against Hospital

    The Washington Supreme Court has taken up a group of parents' bid to revive their proposed class action accusing Seattle Children's Hospital of sharing their private data with Facebook parent company Meta by installing its Pixel browser tracking tool on the hospital's public-facing website.

  • January 08, 2026

    FCC Updates 'Covered List' To Remove Some Drones

    The Federal Communications Commission announced that it will be pulling from its covered list certain drones and related components that the agency says no longer pose a risk to national security after consultation with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Expert Analysis

  • Next Steps For Orgs. Amid Updated OpenAI Usage Policies

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

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    Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

  • How Bank-Fintech Partnerships Changed In 2025

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    The 2025 transition to the Trump administration, augmented by the reversal of Chevron deference in 2024, has resulted in unprecedented shifts, and bank-fintech partnerships are no exception, with key changes affecting a number of areas including charters, regulatory oversight and anti-money laundering, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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