Consumer Protection

  • March 20, 2024

    White Supremacist Must Pay $10M For Election Robocalls

    A Montana federal judge has ordered an Idaho white supremacist to pay the Federal Communications Commission $9.9 million after being found liable for sending out thousands of racist robocalls.

  • March 20, 2024

    Calif. Firm Takes On AI, Dating Apps And 'Dopamine Culture'

    A Valentine’s Day class action against dating platform MatchGroup was just the latest in a series of ambitious fights the Malibu-based boutique Clarkson Law Firm PC has picked with Big Tech and beyond, hoping to more broadly protect consumers from addictive and harmful business practices.

  • March 20, 2024

    Hemp Co. Wins Bid To Reverse 'Irrational' UK Gov't CBD Ban

    A hemp company has won its bid in a London court for permission to challenge the U.K. government's decision to ban imports of its cannabis-derived products based on a trace of a controlled chemical.

  • March 20, 2024

    Amazon Wants Rethink On E-Book Monopolization Suit

    Amazon is asking a New York federal court to reconsider U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods' rejection of the company's motion to dismiss a proposed class action alleging that the company has monopolized the e-book market, or to at least certify two questions for the Second Circuit to address on interlocutory appeal.

  • March 20, 2024

    How The Supreme Court Could Narrow Chevron

    After hours of oral argument in a closely watched administrative law case, it appeared that some U.S. Supreme Court justices could be open to limiting the opportunities for lower courts to defer to federal agencies' legal interpretations in disputes over rulemaking — and legal experts said there are a number of ways they could do it.

  • March 20, 2024

    FCC Urged To Spend On School Firewalls, Not Wi-Fi Hotspots

    The Federal Communications Commission could better spend funds for education on beefed-up cybersecurity than on a controversial proposal for Wi-Fi hotspots, a broadband industry group told the agency.

  • March 20, 2024

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2024 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 20, 2024

    US Chamber's Litigation Funding Concerns Spur 2 State Laws

    Amid concerns from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about third-party litigation funding, including from potentially hostile foreign entities, state legislatures in Indiana and West Virginia have recently passed bills imposing restrictions on the practice.

  • March 20, 2024

    DA Says Greenhouse Suit Interferes With Code Enforcement

    The San Bernardino County district attorney is asking a California federal judge to throw out a suit from a Native American-owned company aiming to block the DA from abating and removing equipment from greenhouses that was used in an illegal cannabis operation involving a prior owner.

  • March 20, 2024

    FCA Warns Pension Advisers Over Treatment Of Customers

    The Financial Conduct Authority urged pension advisers on Wednesday to look at how well they are considering the needs of their clients after a sweeping review of the sector found significant shortfalls at some companies.

  • March 20, 2024

    Google Fined €250M By France For Media Copyright Breaches

    France's competition regulator said Wednesday that it has hit Google with a €250 million ($271 million) fine for using content from news agencies without alerting them or payment.

  • March 19, 2024

    Hermes Faces Antitrust Suit Over Exclusive Birkin Bag Sales

    Consumers hit Hermès with a proposed antitrust class action Tuesday in California federal court, accusing the luxury fashion retailer of tying the sale of its iconic Birkin handbag to other expensive items by requiring customers to establish a "sufficient purchase history" before they can even view the bag.

  • March 19, 2024

    Kohl's Can't Shake Wiretap Suit Over Online Chat Feature

    A California federal judge has refused to toss a putative class action accusing Kohl's of unlawfully eavesdropping on website visitors who used an online chat feature operated by a third party, allowing a pair of claims over the alleged interception and sharing of these communications to move forward. 

  • March 19, 2024

    Apple Deleted Siri Recordings, Users Say In Seeking Sanctions

    Users of Apple's Siri who claim the voice-activated software records their conversations have asked a California federal judge to sanction the company for allegedly deleting millions of proposed class members' Siri records, including data they say "meticulously documented Apple's interception" of their confidential communications.

  • March 19, 2024

    Activision, Rockstar Sued Over Addictive Video Games

    Activision Blizzard Inc., Rockstar Games Inc., Epic Games Inc. and other major video game developers have been sued in Arkansas federal court over allegations that popular titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty are addictive by design and ruined the life of a 14-year-old child.

  • March 19, 2024

    Top Bank Lobbyist To Biden: Stop The Regulatory 'Tsunami'

    The head of the largest U.S. banking trade group vowed Tuesday to keep litigation on the table if federal regulators don't back off their rulemaking "tsunami," tough talk that comes as the group's latest such legal challenge has hit potential turbulence in Texas.

  • March 19, 2024

    Healthcare Provider Says Optum Can't Duck Suit Or Arbitrate

    An East San Gabriel Valley nonprofit healthcare system has urged a California federal judge not to toss, or force into arbitration, its antitrust suit accusing Optum Health of lying to patients as part of broader efforts to force the system out of the local primary care physicians market.

  • March 19, 2024

    Ford Pushes To Decertify Classes Amid Mustang Defect Trial

    Ford Motor Co. urged a Florida federal judge Tuesday to undo classes of consumers in four states who allege they were misled when buying high-performance Mustangs, arguing that a jury heard testimony from the drivers this month that the "word was out on these cars" before purchases were made.

  • March 19, 2024

    FCC Won't Shift Gears On 5.9 GHz Despite Automakers' Effort

    The Federal Communications Commission has turned down two auto industry groups' long-standing requests to take another look at a 2020 revamp of FCC rules in the 5.9 gigahertz band that shifted part of the spectrum to unlicensed wireless use.

  • March 19, 2024

    Google Fights Wiretapping Suit Over 'Fancy Tape Recorder'

    Google LLC urged a California federal judge Tuesday to throw out a proposed class action alleging the tech giant's "human-like" customer-service product using generative text illegally eavesdrops on conversations without users' consent, arguing that the product is merely a "fancy tape recorder" that doesn't involve humans eavesdropping.

  • March 19, 2024

    Meta, Google, Others Can't Nix Buffalo, NY, Mass Shooting Suit

    Social media giants can't escape a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, where 10 died, a state court judge has ruled, accepting claims the platforms are "sophisticated products" that radicalized the killer rather than messaging boards protected under the Communications Decency Act.

  • March 19, 2024

    Bettors' Appeal Over Doped Derby Horse Heard By 6th Circ.

    Bettors on the 2021 Kentucky Derby who did not bet on winner Medina Spirit can't claim negligence or damages in court, even though the horse was later disqualified for failing a drug test, an attorney for Churchill Downs told a Sixth Circuit panel on Tuesday.

  • March 19, 2024

    Don't Impose Foreign Ownership Regs On ISPs, FCC Told

    As the Federal Communications Commission mulls how it's going to regulate broadband now that the Democratic majority plans to reclassify it as a Title II service, a free market think tank is urging the agency not to apply the agency's foreign ownership regulations to internet service providers.

  • March 19, 2024

    FTC Sends Benefytt's Sham Health Plan Buyers $100M

    The Federal Trade Commission is sending refund checks to hundreds of thousands of customers from the $100 million Benefytt Technologies Inc. paid to settle allegations that it deceptively marketed sham health plans as qualified under the Affordable Care Act.

  • March 19, 2024

    Gerber Says Vitamin C Not Used As Preservative In Baby Food

    Gerber has said consumers who bought its baby food snack products with "no preservatives" labels got exactly what they bargained for, food with no ingredients that function as preservatives, asking a New York federal judge to toss a false-ad suit.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation

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    There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Amazon's €32M Data Protection Fine Acts As Employer Caveat

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    The recent decision by French data privacy regulator CNIL to fine Amazon for excessive surveillance of its workers opens up a raft of potential employment law, data protection and breach of contract issues, and offers a clear warning that companies need coherent justification for monitoring employees, say Robert Smedley and William Richmond-Coggan at Freeths.

  • Understanding And Working With The Millennials On Your Jury

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    Every trial attorney will be facing a greater proportion of millennials on their jury, as they now comprise the largest generation in the U.S., and winning them over requires an understanding of their views on politics, corporations and damages, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.

  • Vagueness In Calif. Climate Law Makes Compliance Tricky

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    California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act requires companies making claims of carbon neutrality, or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to disclose information supporting those claims — but vague and conflicting language in the statute poses multiple problems for businesses, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

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