Analysis

The End Of An 'Independent' FTC

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission members, responsible for merger review, antitrust enforcement, consumer protection safeguards and rulemaking, and industry analysis, no longer serve at a remove from presidential authority, thanks to Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could dramatically remake the FTC and other independent agencies.

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Justices Strike Down Humphrey's Presidential Firing Limits

By Katie Buehler

The president has unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a major win for President Donald Trump's campaign against officials at the Federal Trade Commission and beyond.

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Justices Clarify Geofence Warrant Standards

By Elizabeth Daley

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that geofence warrants, which compel technology companies to turn over users' location data to law enforcement, are "searches" under the Fourth Amendment.

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Supreme Court To Review Wash. Youth Gender Care Law

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Washington state's law permitting shelters not to notify the parents of runaway teens who seek gender-affirming treatment, reviving a lawsuit that a Ninth Circuit panel unanimously shot down after a district judge found the plaintiffs could only show speculative injury.

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House Sends Kids Online Safety Bill To Skeptical Senate

By Allison Grande

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed legislation to boost online data privacy and safety protections for children and teens, moving the measure along to the U.S. Senate, where key lawmakers have already come out against the proposal for what they say are insufficient mechanisms for holding major technology companies accountable. 

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ShinyHunters Likely Hacked NAIC's Credit Agency Data

By Abraham Gross

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners suspended its designated ratings for insurer investments after hackers suspected of belonging to the ShinyHunters group captured nonpublic information, including ratings determinations of insurer investments.

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FCC Set To Block Call Traffic From Telecom Over Robocalls

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission is ready to block a Denver-based voice call provider from operating in the United States if it doesn't quickly answer the agency's questions about what it's doing to stop illegal robocalls from being transmitted on its network.

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Rural Network Providers Seek FCC Waiver To Alter Routers

By Nadia Dreid

Now that the Federal Communications Commission has given some telecommunications trade groups permission to make changes to foreign-made routers that the agency has banned from being imported, those groups are asking the agency to let suppliers make the changes themselves.

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Nebraska Social Media Age Verification Law Partially Blocked

By Jonathan Capriel

Tech trade group NetChoice LLC has won a partial victory in its legal war against age verification laws, persuading a Nebraska federal court to block a state statute that would have required social media companies to obtain parental consent before allowing minors to create accounts.

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Brief

Gov't Arg. For DOGE Access Stay Is 'Red Herring,' Judge Says

By Nadia Dreid

The Trump administration can't convince a Maryland federal judge to rescind her order opening discovery into allegations the Department of Government Efficiency flouted her orders to stop accessing sensitive Social Security Administration data.

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Verizon Asks Justices To Send Privacy Fine Back To 2nd Circ.

By Christopher Cole

Verizon urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow it to contest an already-paid $47 million data privacy fine in the Second Circuit after the justices upheld the Federal Communications Commission's penalty powers but found them subject to court review.

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Judge Rebukes Feds For Demanding Pennsylvania Voter Info

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania federal judge rebuked the U.S. Department of Justice for demanding the state's voter rolls, ruling Saturday that the federal government lacked legal authority to seek records that include voters' private information.

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LA Times Gets OK For $3.85M Privacy Deal With Web Visitors

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge gave the final stamp of approval to a $3.85 million class settlement that resolves allegations the Los Angeles Times installed and used several trackers on the browsers of visitors to its website that collected their IP addresses without their consent.

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Citibank Defeats Texas Man's $20M NFT Romance Scam Suit

By Hailey Konnath

A New York federal judge Monday threw out a Texas man's suit accusing Citibank NA of ignoring red flags that allowed scammers to siphon nearly $4 million from his family trusts after he fell for a social media romance scam involving nonfungible tokens.

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Circle Faces $232M Suit From N. Korea Victim's Family

By Aislinn Keely

The family of a missionary who was kidnapped and murdered by North Korean agents is seeking to collect over $232 million from blockchain company Circle after the stablecoin issuer allegedly failed to freeze funds linked to North Korean hackers amid the April Fools' Day exploit of crypto project Drift Protocol.

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Wizards, Capitals Owner Facing Multiple Data Breach Suits

By David Steele

The plaintiffs in a proposed class action accusing the owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals of exposing their personal information in a data breach have asked a federal judge to relate their suit to a pair of consolidated suits over the same breach.

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Google Faces Privacy Suit Over Nest Cam's Face Detection

By Rae Ann Varona

Google's Nest security cameras and doorbells are scanning people's faces and storing their "faceprints" with the help of artificial intelligence without passersby's consent, Virginia residents alleged in a proposed class action filed Monday in California federal court.

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Politico Collected Data On Users' Reading Habits, Suit Claims

By Taylor Bowie

The news website Politico unlawfully uses automatic data trackers, allowing it to collect readers' browsing activity on "sensitive personal subject matter," such as articles about LGBTQ politics, a proposed class action claimed in California federal court Friday.

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Epic Games, Ex-Contractor Settle 'Fortnite' Leak Claims

By Abigail Harrison

"Fortnite"-maker Epic Games Inc. and an ex-contractor have settled the former's claims that the latter leaked secrets on social media, according to a motion Epic filed seeking a court order memorializing the parties' deal barring the ex-contractor from possessing or using its confidential information and trade secrets.

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Auto Parts Co. Faces Class Action Over Data Breach

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan woman filed a proposed class action in federal court Saturday alleging that automotive supplier Challenge Manufacturing failed to protect employees' and customers' private information, allowing cybercriminals to access it in a data breach last month.

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11th Circ. Ruling Reflects Shift In Digital Consent Frameworks

The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Tejon v. Zeus Networks that a browsewrap terms-of-service hyperlink was insufficiently conspicuous to bind a consumer to an arbitration agreement could accelerate a broader industry shift to clickwrap as the baseline for enforceable digital consent, say attorneys at Sheppard.

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Justices' FCC Fine Ruling May Weaken Agency Leverage

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T upheld the commission's forfeiture framework as consistent with Jarkesy, but it is also likely to reduce the effectiveness of the commission’s forfeiture proceedings as a collection and deterrence tool, say attorneys at Venable.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings from cases involving allegations of internet data misuse, consumer fraud claims, immigration, insurance and First Amendment violation claims.

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Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

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Trump Nominates Just Confirmed La. Judge For 5th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Anna St. John has been on the federal bench for less than four months, and now she's being elevated to a higher court.

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High Court Scraps Caps On Coordinated Campaign Spending

By Katie Buehler and Jeff Overley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down federal limits on political party spending in coordination with individual candidates, agreeing with a Republican-led challenge that the caps violate the First Amendment.

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Gordon Rees Adds 8 Partners In Northern California

By Tracey Read

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has expanded its offices in Northern California with eight new partners who have expertise in multiple practice areas, a firm spokesperson told Law360 Pulse on Tuesday.

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NY State Bar Wants New Bar Exam Rules For Emergencies

By Kevin Penton

Following two recent incidents that drew scrutiny over their handling, the New York State Bar Association is calling for new standardized protocols to be followed should emergencies occur during the administration of the bar exam.

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NC City Beats Ex-Paralegal's Besmirched Reputation Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina city's characterization of how a fired paralegal allegedly misused city resources is not enough to sustain her suit accusing the city of trampling on her reputation and using her as a scapegoat for her boss's misdeeds, a federal judge said in throwing out the case.

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Uber, FedEx Slam Pa. Law Firm Counterclaims In RICO Suit

By James Boyle

Philadelphia-based personal injury firm Simon & Simon PC and its founder have failed to support a counterclaim in Pennsylvania federal court saying Uber Technologies Inc. and FedEx Corp. filed a sham litigation and abused the legal process with their ongoing RICO complaint against the firm, the companies argued Monday.

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Buchalter Real Estate Partner Joins Holland & Knight In LA

By Adrian Cruz

Holland & Knight LLP announced that an experienced real estate finance attorney who most recently practiced at Buchalter PC has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a partner.

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Office Snapshot: Hogan Lovells Set To Reclaim Turf In Boston

By Chris Villani

Amid Hogan Lovells' rapid growth in multiple practice areas and ahead of its merger with Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, the firm has expanded its downtown Boston office to include space for more than a dozen additional attorneys.

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NJ Assembly Passes Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill requiring the disclosure of third-party litigation funding arrangements on Tuesday by an overwhelming margin after similar pending legislation in the state Senate received pushback from trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives.

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