Consumer Protection

  • May 21, 2026

    Gatorade Buyers Say 'Better Than Water' Claim Is Misleading

    A proposed class of Gatorade buyers sued parent company PepsiCo Inc. on Thursday, claiming the sports drink's newest labels are misleading in the claims they "Hydrate better than water," and that the reduced sugar variants have no artificial flavors.

  • May 21, 2026

    Legislative Update: Cannabis And Psychedelics Bill Roundup

    Virginia's governor vetoed legislation to establish adult-use marijuana sales, keeping the state in cannabis legal limbo; Illinois lawmakers introduced legislation to rein in hemp products, aligning state policy with an upcoming shift in federal law; and Louisiana lawmakers sent a bill to the governor that would allow terminally ill patients to access medical marijuana in healthcare facilities. Here are the major moves in cannabis and psychedelics legislation from the past week.

  • May 21, 2026

    White Nationalists Sued Over Whites-Only Ark. Enclave

    A Missouri woman accused a white nationalist group in Arkansas federal court of violating the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws by refusing to let her buy land in the group's community in Arkansas because she is a Jewish woman with a Black husband and three biracial children.

  • May 21, 2026

    NC Justices Told AG Powerless To Bring DuPont Pollution Suit

    The North Carolina attorney general does not have the authority to sue two DuPont spinoffs over contamination from forever chemicals because the same claims were already resolved by an order with state environmental regulators, the spinoffs told the Tar Heel state's high court.

  • May 21, 2026

    Texas Panel Weighs If AG Can Sue Allstate Data Unit In State

    A Texas appellate court considered Thursday whether an Allstate-owned analytics company accused of illegally collecting mobility data from people's phones through third-party apps can be sued in Texas, pressing counsel on the company's ties to Texas users' data.

  • May 21, 2026

    Hermès Urges 9th Circ. To Back Toss Of Birkin Antitrust Case

    Hermès asked the Ninth Circuit to affirm the dismissal of a suit from shoppers alleging the company illegally ties the sale of its iconic Birkin handbags to other expensive luxury items, saying the plaintiff's case reflects "a fundamental misunderstanding of tying law."

  • May 21, 2026

    Nexstar Asks 9th Circ. To Narrow Tegna Merger Block

    Nexstar urged the Ninth Circuit to narrow a preliminary injunction preventing it from fully integrating with Tegna Inc. that was issued in a challenge to the broadcasters' $6.2 billion merger by state enforcers and satellite provider DirecTV.

  • May 21, 2026

    Texas Comptroller Tells 5th Circ. To Toss E-Cig Ban Suit

    The acting comptroller for Texas is asking the Fifth Circuit to overturn an order allowing vape companies and a trade association to pursue a suit challenging a state law banning e-cigarette products that use liquids from China and other "adversaries," saying the comptroller is entitled to sovereign immunity.

  • May 21, 2026

    Meta, Others Settle Bellwether School Case Set For June Trial

    Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok Inc. and YouTube have each agreed to settle a bellwether school district's claims in social media addiction multidistrict litigation that were set for a six-week California federal jury trial beginning June 12, according to the Kentucky school district's counsel.

  • May 21, 2026

    Indian, Turkish Chromium Trioxide Facing Antidumping Duties

    Imports from Turkey and India of a chemical used in wood preservation, metal finishing and plating are being sold at less than fair value, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday, setting the products up to facing antidumping duties.

  • May 21, 2026

    Russian Palladium Facing 110% Countervailing Duty

    Imported Russian unwrought palladium is facing a nearly 110% countervailing duty rate following a final determination issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday.

  • May 21, 2026

    Another Agri Stats Deal Gets Initial OK In Turkey Antitrust Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to another deal between Agri Stats Inc. and purchasers to resolve their claims that the company's benchmarking reports helped enable a price-fixing conspiracy among major turkey producers.

  • May 21, 2026

    Zillow In FTC Case Says Redfin Debt Forced Noncompete Deal

    Zillow has answered a complaint in Virginia federal court from federal authorities over a deal to pay Redfin $100 million to stop competing on multifamily listings, arguing that the syndication deal came as the smaller competitor faced no other path to increase its apartment listings and dig itself out of debt.

  • May 20, 2026

    Prof. Hired By J&J In 1970s Found Asbestos In Talc, Jury Told

    A former Johnson & Johnson toxicologist could not find evidence his employer turned over a report to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that "unmistakably" found asbestos in the company's talc, according to a video deposition shown Wednesday to a California jury considering bellwether claims over three women's deadly ovarian cancer.

  • May 20, 2026

    Bayer Curbs Seed Loyalty Program Amid DOJ Antitrust Inquiry

    Bayer CropScience has agreed to back off, for the next seven years, from implementing requirements in its loyalty program where it was accused of tying discounts to sales targets that independent seed companies had to meet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement made Wednesday.

  • May 20, 2026

    Top 4 Most Surprising Moments In Musk-OpenAI Trial

    The high-profile trial over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion wrapped Monday with a quick jury verdict in favor of OpenAI and its executives, but the three-week trial drew some surprising moments for those in the courtroom who had front row seats to the fight between billionaires.

  • May 20, 2026

    Bank Ratings Would Focus More On Financial Risk Under Plan

    Federal regulators have unveiled a proposal to revamp a key ratings system used for grading the condition of banks, outlining changes that could make it harder to penalize banks on exams for governance and compliance issues unless they pose a clear financial threat.

  • May 20, 2026

    States Push FDIC To Include Them In Stablecoin Reviews

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. faces calls to coordinate with fellow federal agencies and include state banking regulators in its coming application process for stablecoin issuers under its supervision.

  • May 20, 2026

    Amazon Rebuffs Lost Doc Allegations In COVID Pricing Case

    Amazon called on a Washington federal judge Tuesday to deny two consumers' bid for sanctions against it in a proposed class action over alleged price-gouging on the e-commerce platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the plaintiffs are trying to dodge major legal hurdles by leveling baseless claims of failure to preserve evidence.

  • May 20, 2026

    Social Media Not Proven To Harm Mental Health, Judge Told

    A statistics expert for Meta sought Wednesday to undermine the claim that social media has driven a rise in mental health conditions among teens, saying the New Mexico attorney general's key witness on the topic didn't consider alternative factors like widening access to mental health care.

  • May 20, 2026

    Binance Libel Suit Doesn't Show Actual Malice, Dow Jones Says

    Dow Jones urged a New York federal judge to toss a defamation suit brought by Binance over a Wall Street Journal article saying the cryptocurrency exchange fired internal investigators who uncovered transactions that purportedly went to sanctioned Iranian-backed entities, arguing that Binance hadn't shown the article was published with actual malice.

  • May 20, 2026

    Baltimore Bridge Wreck Civil Trial Will Stay The Course

    A Maryland federal judge on Wednesday refused an eleventh-hour request from the Dali cargo ship's owner and manager to delay a trial that's starting in less than two weeks to determine the scope of liability and damages over Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster, according to an attorney for certain claimants.

  • May 20, 2026

    Carmaker Beats Suit Over Christmas Data Breach Claims

    An Illinois couple who sued Stellantis North America over the carmaker's allegedly lax data security practices that caused a cyberattack on Christmas Day 2025 have decided to voluntarily drop their lawsuit, according to a Wednesday notice in Michigan federal court.

  • May 20, 2026

    4th Circ. OKs Pipeline Work During Green Groups' Permit Suit

    A Fourth Circuit panel refused to order Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC to halt construction on an interstate pipeline, saying in an order Monday that environmental groups failed to persuade the judges that a recently issued discharge permit was arbitrary and capricious.

  • May 20, 2026

    Ikea, Mondelez Customers Seek Tariff Refunds In Illinois Suits

    Furniture chain Ikea and snack giant Mondelez are the latest companies to get hit with Illinois lawsuits seeking refunds of tariffs customers say they ultimately paid through inflated product prices before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately found the tariffs illegal.   

Expert Analysis

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Legal Theories In Social Media Verdicts Hold Clues On Impact

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    Although the two verdicts in cases in New Mexico and California involving Meta and Google are being lumped together, they rest on fundamentally different legal theories, and that distinction determines how their effects may be felt in other jurisdictions, says Mark Morgan at Day Pitney.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • AI Recruiting Suit Shows Old Laws May Implicate New Tools

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    The Fair Credit Reporting Act allegations recently filed in Kistler v. Eightfold AI, are the latest example of broad definitional language in legacy statutes proving far more dangerous to companies deploying artificial intelligence – particularly in hiring – than any purpose-built artificial intelligence regulation, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare For 'Made In America' Ad Scrutiny

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    The Trump administration's executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in consumer-facing advertising, along with actions by the Federal Trade Commission, suggest a potential increased focus on consumer protection and pricing-related matters, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Opinion

    FTC Case Risks Redefining Price Discrimination

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    Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer puts a spotlight on the blurry line between illegal price discrimination and ordinary competition, and could potentially set a precedent that puts nearly any manufacturer at risk of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement, says Jeremy Sandford at Econic Partners.

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    Michigan's financial services sector saw several significant developments in 2026's first quarter, including the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services' issuance of a bulletin on the use of artificial intelligence and the Michigan House's introduction of a bill based on the Model Money Transmission Modernization Act, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • FDA's Crackdown On Drug Ads Conflicts With Precedent

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    Recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning letters to drug manufacturers targeting direct-to-consumer advertising raise significant constitutional concerns, and directly clash with prior FDA stances, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate The Patchwork Of AI Safety Bills

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    In the first few months of 2026, state and federal lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills to address the perceived safety risks of artificial intelligence, so companies should assess whether existing or planned services could be scoped into AI safety legislation across jurisdictions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Unpacking FCC's Proposed Rules For Offshore Call Centers

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    The Federal Communications Commission recently proposed rules that would restrict the use of offshore customer service operations, citing consumer frustration, data security risks and fraud as core reasons for the sweeping regulatory move, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    As usual, California remained a hub for financial services activity in the first quarter of 2026, with key developments including the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation's eye on consumer issues, a bill targeting "pig butchering" schemes, and jam-packed courts, say attorneys at Joseph Cohen.

  • Series

    Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

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