Consumer Protection

Expert Analysis

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Exelon GC Talks Diversity Initiatives

  

  Executing a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion programming, through recruitment, inclusive legal pipelines and community empowerment via pro bono efforts, can ensure a strong environmental, social and governance proposition, says Gayle Littleton at Exelon.

• A Legal Primer On Social Tokens

  

  Social tokens, a new class of blockchain-based assets that celebrities and brands can use to connect with fans and consumers, hold great promise — but their value may be volatile, and issuers must understand the advertising, contractual and intellectual property issues that come with them, says Hannah Taylor at Frankfurt Kurnit.

• 5 Questions On Standing In The Wake Of TransUnion

  

  While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in TransUnion v. Ramirez provided some clarity on the contours of Article III standing, it opens the door to several potential shifts in where and how consumer class actions will be litigated, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• Revamping Law Firm Marketing Lists — With Partner Buy-In

  

  Jackson Lewis’ Paige Bowser shares lessons from the firm's recent overhaul of an outdated email marketing database, including tips for getting partners on board, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and augmenting outreach strategies.

• A Look At Tribal Involvement In Juul Litigation

  

  The vaping epidemic has had a disproportionate impact on Native American tribes, and the ensuing litigation against Juul Labs has many parallels with Big Tobacco suits from the 1990s, but this time around tribes have a seat at the bargaining table, say Geoffrey Strommer and Riley Plumer at Hobbs Straus.

• Gov't Contractor Input Vital After Biden Cybersecurity Order

  

  The Office of Management and Budget's upcoming recommendations for improving U.S. cybersecurity defenses, following President Joe Biden's recent executive order, could create burdensome obligations for government contractors, so it's important for the government to actively engage with the industry during the rulemaking process, say executives at Leidos.

• TransUnion Ruling Limits Standing But Could Hurt Defendants

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in TransUnion v. Ramirez could represent a pyrrhic victory for the defense bar by further shifting class standing from a motion-to-dismiss argument to one that is not ripe until summary judgment, which could present a multibillion-dollar problem for defendants in data privacy litigation, say David Saunders and Peter Scheyer at McDermott.

• The Murky World Of Legal Rankings Gets Some Clarity In NJ

  

  New Jersey's new, stringent approach to legal rankings will make accolade advertising more transparent, benefiting both attorneys and clients and offering legal marketers a new set of best practices amid evolving standards, say Penny Paul at Lowenstein Sandler and Susan Peters at Greybridge.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Cigna Counsel Talks Employee Wellness

  

  Building employee well-being into corporate environmental, social and governance priorities required our legal team to focus more closely on cross-functional collaboration within the company and increased communication with our board of directors and shareholders, says Julia Brncic at Cigna.

• Courts' Clashing Standards For Evidence At Class Cert.: Part 2

  

  While federal circuits continue to split on whether to approach fact and expert evidence differently at class certification, and there is no sign of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to resolve the issue, applying an admissibility standard to one and not the other appears illogical, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• Hybrid Work Models Are Key To Gender Parity In Law Firms

  

  To curb the historically high rates of attrition among female lawyers, Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks suggest firms must normalize hybrid work schedules, and they recommend best practices to promote engagement among all attorneys, regardless of where they work.

• Baltimore Bill Is Most Draconian Facial Recognition Ban Yet

  

  Because Baltimore's recently passed bill banning use of facial recognition by private entities goes even further than Portland's ban by imposing criminal penalties and may encourage lawmakers in other jurisdictions, companies need to institute flexible, adaptable biometric privacy compliance frameworks, says David Oberly at Blank Rome.

• Courts' Clashing Standards For Evidence At Class Cert.: Part 1

  

  The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling in Lyngaas v. Ag highlights an ongoing circuit split on whether plaintiffs moving to certify a class must use admissible evidence and whether fact and expert evidence should be treated equivalently in this regard, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• 3 Keys To Winning Your Next Oral Argument

  

  To leverage the unique opportunity oral arguments provide to talk directly to judges and contribute to their decision making, attorneys must mind the three hallmarks of persuasiveness: projecting credibility, exuding likability and gaining the listener's trust, says Daniel Karon at Karon LLC.

• Keys To Efficient And Accurate Doc Review For E-Discovery

  

  Attorneys involved in e-discovery can review information accurately and cost-effectively by understanding the data in a document collection and identifying its key pitfalls, drafting comprehensive review guidelines, and preparing ahead, says John Wertelet at Eckert Seamans.