Hochul Signs AG James' Bill To Expand Consumer Law

By Sarah Jarvis

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law New York Attorney General Letitia James' legislation to expand the state's ban on deceptive business practices to also protect against unfair and abusive practices, in the first updates to the state's primary consumer protection law in 45 years.

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FTC Tosses Ban On AI-Fueled Tool For Stifling Innovation

By Allison Grande

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday threw out a 2024 order that imposed a ban on an artificial intelligence-powered writing assistance service that allegedly enabled its subscribers to generate false and deceptive online reviews, concluding that the prior directive was inconsistent with the Trump administration's current policy against undermining innovation in the emerging AI field. 

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Nev. Dental Group Strikes $3.3M Deal In Data Breach Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Nevada-based dental practice agreed on Friday to pay $3.3 million to resolve proposed class claims over a data breach that potentially affected over 1.2 million people, the plaintiffs said in a request to a federal court for preliminary approval of the deal.

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AT&T, Industry Watchdog End Dispute Over Luke Wilson Ad

By Christopher Cole

AT&T has ended litigation in Texas federal court against an industry watchdog that called for the telecom giant to drop an ad campaign with actor Luke Wilson capitalizing on deceptive advertising claims filed with the watchdog about AT&T rival T-Mobile.

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NY's James, 21 Other Dem AGs Say CFPB Defunding Unlawful

By Craig Clough

New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of nearly two dozen Democratic attorneys general in claiming the Trump administration's effort to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is illegal, telling an Oregon federal court Monday the municipalities are statutorily entitled to the CFPB's resources

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White House Looks To Open More Spectrum Bands

By Christopher Cole

President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to free up a large amount of airwaves for the wireless industry, including federally held spectrum running from 7.125 to 7.4 gigahertz.

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Draft House Bill Would Clarify Tax Rules For Digital Assets

By Molly Moses

A bipartisan draft bill in the U.S. House would modernize the federal tax code for digital assets, its backers said, by establishing a "commonsense tax treatment" for regulated payment stablecoins, clarifying source-of-income rules for trading and extending existing securities-lending rules to digital assets.

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Trump Admin Adds Drones To Nat'l Security Threat List

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday deemed new foreign-made drones an unacceptable risk to the national security and safety of the country.

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Localities Say FCC Exceeding Powers Could Lead To Suits

By Christopher Cole

Local officials warned the Federal Communications Commission that extensive litigation could result if the agency tries to expand its power in easing permit approvals for high-speed deployment projects, an authority they say is not provided in federal statute.

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CFTC Suit Adds To Convicted Crypto Fraudster's Woes

By Emilie Ruscoe

The CEO of a collapsed cryptocurrency commodity pool who earlier admitted to a wire fraud conspiracy charge now faces U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission civil claims over what prosecutors say was a $10 million Ponzi scheme.

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Wash. AG Urges New Laws After Rape Test Backlog Cleared

By Parker Quinlan

The Washington State Attorney General's Office has released a report detailing how it eliminated a decadeslong backlog of more than 10,000 untested sexual assault test kits and provided state legislators with a list of recommendations to support victims of sexual assault.

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Black & Decker Delayed Dangerous Defects Reports, Feds Say

By Hailey Konnath

Stanley Black & Decker Inc. knowingly dragged its feet on reporting potential hazardous defects in some of its utility bars and miter saws for years in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act, according to a suit filed Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Brief

Feds Snatch $8.5M In Crypto Connected To Investment Scam

By Hayley Fowler

Federal prosecutors have seized $8.5 million in the cryptocurrency Tether that investigators say belongs to victims who were allegedly lured into investing in bogus cryptocurrency trading schemes, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said.

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Advocacy Groups Warn Against Kalshi's Gambling Push

By Hayley Fowler

A trio of nonprofits that advocate against gambling are fighting betting company Kalshi's efforts to curb Maryland gaming regulators' oversight, telling the Fourth Circuit that health consequences and threats to elections and youth sports would be significant if Kalshi succeeds.

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Calif. Judge Moves Insurance Compliance Co.'s Antitrust Suit

By Isaac Monterose

A California federal judge has transferred an artificial intelligence-driven insurance compliance company's antitrust suit against a property management software company to a different California federal court.

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Life Insurer, Customers' $335K Deal OK'd In Data Breach Suit

By Hope Patti

A Connecticut federal court gave final approval to a deal requiring a life insurance and financial planning company to pay $335,000 to end claims over a 2023 data breach that potentially compromised its customers' personal information.

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Vape Cos. Get Partial Block Of Va. Law, But Claims Trimmed

By Mike Curley

A Virginia federal judge has agreed to halt enforcement of certain provisions of a state law barring the sale of vapes that are not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, while dismissing two of the three claims vape companies had brought in the lawsuit.

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Robocall Class Seeks $35.7M After Failed Deal Talks

By Lauraann Wood

Consumers looking to hold a resort company liable after its vendor placed more than 70,000 unwanted marketing calls to National Do Not Call registrants have asked an Illinois federal judge to enter a $35.7 million judgment reflecting their recent summary judgment win after their court-ordered settlement negotiations were unsuccessful.

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Calif. Atty Slams 'Protectionist' ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

By Emily Sawicki

A California attorney has pushed back on opposition from California's attorney general and the state's bar association amid his efforts to block enforcement of a ban on fee sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonattorneys, arguing the new state law is a "protectionist act, in defiance of the constitution."

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Major Banks Want Loan Rate Collusion Suit Tossed

By Katryna Perera

Several major banks urged a Connecticut federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging that for the past 30 years, they have been artificially inflating interest rates on variable-rate loans to consumers and small businesses, arguing the suit fails to plead evidence of a conspiracy among the banks.

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BMW's Recall Fix 'Too Late,' Says Widow In SUV Fire Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A widow claims an engine fire in her BMW spread to her home and caused fatal injuries to her husband, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Georgia federal court, which points to a defective part at the center of a 721,000-vehicle recall as the primary culprit.

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Becton Muscles Out Hernia Mesh Rivals, Antitrust Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

Tela Bio Inc. slapped Becton Dickinson and Co. and its subsidiaries with an antitrust lawsuit Friday in Pennsylvania federal court accusing the medical tech giant of abusing its dominant position in the hernia mesh market to block Tela's product and keep Becton's "costlier and clinically inferior" mesh on hospital shelves in the U.S.

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Regulatory Rollback And Lingering Limbo: The CFPB In 2025

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has implemented significant changes since President Donald Trump took office in January, including dismissing actions with prejudice, withdrawing guidance and rescinding rules, casting the bureau in uncertain light heading into 2026, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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2025 Calif. Banking Oversight Centered On Consumer Issues

The combination of statutory reform, registration mandates and enforcement activity in 2025 signals that California's financial regulatory landscape is focused on consumer protection, particularly in the areas of crypto kiosk fee practices, earned wage access providers and elder fraud, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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Opinion

Judges Carry Onus To Screen Expert Opinions Before Juries

Recent Second Circuit arguments in Acetaminophen Products Liability Litigation implied a low bar for judicial gatekeeping of expert testimony, but under amended Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, judges must rigorously scrutinize expert opinions before allowing them to reach juries, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.

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Bonus Spotlight

Haynes Boone, Seward & Kissel Announce Year-End Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Haynes Boone is handing its associates year-end and special bonuses in line with those offered by a significant portion of BigLaw this year, largely adhering to a bonus scale first put forward by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP in November, a firm spokesperson confirmed Monday.

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Analysis

4 Legal Ethics Matters That Rocked 2025

By Emily Sawicki

This year, judges across the country grappled with attorneys' use and misuse of generative artificial intelligence, and prominent federal prosecutor battles dominated headlines in some of the top legal ethics matters of 2025.

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DOJ Challenges ABA's Standing In Law Firm Intimidation Suit

By Ryan Boysen

The Trump administration is not waging an intimidation campaign against U.S. law firms, the government said Friday, calling an American Bar Association lawsuit challenging its alleged "law firm intimidation policy" as total speculation that must be dismissed due to lack of standing.

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JPMorgan Rips Javice Attys' 'Absurd' Bills For Candy, Booze

By Dorothy Atkins

JPMorgan has unveiled new details in its ongoing legal fee fight with Charlie Javice, accusing the convicted financial aid startup founder's Quinn Emanuel defense counsel and other firms of billing for "absurd" and "outrageous" expenses, including specialty cocktails, cellulite butter, a Cookie Monster toy and $530 on gummy bears.

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Ex-CIA Director's Lawyers Accuse DOJ Of Judge Shopping

By Carolina Bolado

Former CIA Director John Brennan's attorneys asked the chief judge for the Southern District of Florida on Monday to block prosecutors from trying to steer any potential charges against him for investigating Russia's 2016 election interference to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's courtroom.

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Analysis

2025 Was A Policy Year Like No Other For Immigration Attys

By Britain Eakin

This year brought nonstop immigration policy whiplash as the Trump administration ramped up enforcement, triggering panic among employers about I-9 compliance in a landscape of constantly shifting adjudication and work authorization policies. Here, Law360 looks at how policy shifted attorney practice in 2025.

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LawFirms.com Beats LegalForce's TM Suit After Bench Trial

By Ivan Moreno

A California judge has concluded that a company that operates LawFirms.com did not infringe a law firm's trademarks for LegalForce, saying that during a four-day bench trial in October the court found "no one was actually confused or misled."

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Schumer Pushes Senate To Sue Over Epstein File Release

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a resolution on Monday that would direct the Senate to take legal action to force the Trump administration to fully comply with the law to release the files of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Analysis

As US Executions Decline, Florida Surges

By Brandon Lowrey

During Florida's 1994 gubernatorial race, Republican candidate Jeb Bush accused Democratic incumbent Lawton Chiles of being too soft on crime; Chiles' immediate predecessor, Bush pointed out, had signed almost 10 times as many death warrants as Chiles had.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's justices threw the Court of Chancery in reverse big time last week, rescinding a decision by the state's chancellor that last year effectively canceled tech tycoon Elon Musk's multi-year, then-$56 billion stock-based compensation package. It was a decision that lit up the court's relatively low-key, pre-holiday wind-up. It also highlighted the endless, 3D tug of war over Delaware-chartered companies and the interests of boards, officers, controllers, stockholders and the corporate bar.

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