Consumer Protection

  • June 05, 2024

    Wells Fargo Sued For Allegedly Aiding $300M Ponzi Scheme

    Wells Fargo Bank NA has been hit with a proposed class action in Florida federal court alleging that it aided and abetted a $300 million Ponzi scheme that duped more than 1,000 investors, most of whom were elderly and lost substantial life savings due to the scheme.

  • June 05, 2024

    Fla. High Court Told Immunity Doesn't Bar UF COVID-19 Suit

    A University of Florida student on Wednesday urged the state's high court to revive his lawsuit over cancellation of on-campus services during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that sovereign immunity doesn't bar his breach-of-contract claim against the college.

  • June 05, 2024

    Google Legal Dept. Goes From Crisis Mode To Long Term

    As much of the major antitrust litigation against Google winds down, the company is shuffling around its in-house legal departments to add more people and settle from crisis mode into the more sustainable posture of a technology giant where lawsuits have likely become a permanent feature of its existence.

  • June 05, 2024

    Panel To Pick Venue For FCC Net Neutrality Challenges

    The federal courts are poised to randomly pick which circuit court will initially hear more than half a dozen legal challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's recently adopted net neutrality rules.

  • June 05, 2024

    Paddle Co. Misrepresented Pickleball Products, Suit Says

    The makers of the Joola brand, a major name in table tennis, falsely advertised many of their pickleball paddles, including some bearing athlete Ben Johns' name, as approved for tournament play in order to rapidly gain market share in the sport, according to a proposed class action filed in Florida federal court Wednesday seeking at least $5 million.

  • June 05, 2024

    Google Cleared From Suit Over Animal Abuse YouTube Videos

    A California appeals panel has tossed a nonprofit's suit alleging that Google LLC breached its contract by allowing animal abuse videos on YouTube, saying Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act blocks all its claims.

  • June 05, 2024

    Microsoft Blasts Gamers' Bid To Add To Activision Appeal

    Microsoft Corp. says the Ninth Circuit should reject a "bevy of additional, extra-record 'facts'" seeking to hold up the recent layoffs of 1,900 Activision and Xbox employees as proof that the tech giant's acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. was anticompetitive.

  • June 05, 2024

    Synchrony Charges Were Unlawful 'Veteran Penalty,' Suit Says

    Synchrony Bank was hit with a proposed class action accusing it of promoting a misleading 0% interest rate for veterans and failing to disclose that the bank applies retroactive high interest rates on service members' outstanding balances when they leave duty.

  • June 05, 2024

    Attys Get Third Of $1.4M Webster Bank Breach Deal

    A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday granted final approval to a $1.4 million settlement, including $476,000 in fees for class counsel, in a suit from a class of account holders that sought to hold Webster Bank and its fraud detection services provider liable for a ransomware attack.

  • June 05, 2024

    FCC Looking Into Reports Of AT&T Wireless Service Outage

    The Federal Communications Commission said it is trying to find out what happened when AT&T wireless customers lost service in several states Tuesday due to what the company described as an interoperability problem.

  • June 05, 2024

    CFPB Opens Door To Open Banking 'Standard Setters'

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made more progress Wednesday in its efforts to lay the groundwork for open banking in the U.S., adopting a mechanism that will allow "open" and "balanced" organizations to begin setting official, industry-wide technical standards for financial data sharing.

  • June 05, 2024

    Meta Can't Dodge Trial In Monopoly Suit, FTC Says

    The Federal Trade Commission said "voluminous evidence" cuts against Meta's bid to avoid trial over claims the social media giant illegally entrenched its monopoly in the market for personal social networking by acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram.

  • June 05, 2024

    Epic Accuses Apple Of Stalling Antitrust Doc Production

    Epic Games accused Apple Inc. at a hearing Wednesday of dragging its feet on producing internal documents that a California federal judge recently ordered the tech giant to hand over to help decide if Apple complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules.

  • June 05, 2024

    $6M KeyBank Breach Settlement 'Very Good,' Ga. Judge Told

    The leading class counsel in a lawsuit over alleged data breaches that occurred at several regional banks and a technology contractor urged a Georgia federal judge Wednesday to reject a last-ditch bid by one segment of the proposed class to block a "very good" $6 million settlement on the table.

  • June 05, 2024

    US Bancorp Can't Get Immediate Appeal In 401(k) Fee Suit

    U.S. Bancorp can't yet appeal an order letting a proposed class action over its 401(k) plan's recordkeeping fees proceed, a Minnesota federal judge ruled, saying the company failed to demonstrate that doing so would expedite the case.

  • June 05, 2024

    FTC Can't Pause Novant's $320M Bid To Buy NC Hospitals

    The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday lost its bid to block Novant Health from buying two local hospitals in North Carolina for $320 million while it conducts an in-house review, with a federal judge reasoning that competition would actually fare better if the merger advanced.

  • June 04, 2024

    Judiciary Panel Clears 1st MDL Rule, Eyes 'Mouthpiece' Amici

    Top rulemaking gatekeepers for the federal judiciary Tuesday capped off seven years of strife in the defense and plaintiffs bars by backing a milestone measure aimed at optimizing multidistrict litigation, and then promptly greenlighted an entirely different war of words over new efforts to ferret out amicus briefs from "paid mouthpieces" masquerading as independent experts.

  • June 04, 2024

    Monsanto Tries To Flip $1B PCB Losses As Plaintiffs Press On

    Monsanto is moving to capitalize on a Washington state appellate victory it claims casts doubt on more than $1.1 billion in PCB poisoning verdicts, while plaintiffs are staking out positions to defend — and even build on — their blockbuster wins.

  • June 04, 2024

    Microsoft Failing To Protect Students' Data, EU Watchdog Told

    A prominent Austrian advocacy group is urging the country's data protection authority to take a closer look at how Microsoft is protecting children's personal information, arguing the tech giant is unfairly trying to "shift" its responsibility under European Union privacy law to the schools that use its educational software and is secretly tracking minors' online activities.

  • June 04, 2024

    Insulin Pens Exposed Patients To Disease, Hospital Says

    A Connecticut-based hospital says medical device manufacturer Novo Nordisk should be on the hook for a $1 million settlement the hospital paid to end claims that patients were exposed to blood-borne infections because of the medical staff's use of Novo Nordisk's product.

  • June 04, 2024

    CFPB Seeks Traffic Cop For Parallel Small-Biz Data Rule Suits

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday asked a Kentucky federal judge to stay an industry lawsuit challenging the agency's small-business lender reporting requirements, saying a largely identical challenge filed earlier in Texas should take precedence.

  • June 04, 2024

    Rep. Gaetz Backs FTC's Noncompete Ban In Court

    Rep. Matt Gaetz threw his support behind the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday in a court battle over the agency's new rule banning employee noncompete clauses, arguing that Congress has repeatedly affirmed the commission's authority to make competition rules.

  • June 04, 2024

    Zantac Suits Belong In Conn. State Court, Cancer Patients Say

    Lawsuits claiming Zantac and its generic equivalents caused cancer belong in Connecticut state court, two groups of Constitution State cancer patients and their estates say, arguing against several drugmakers' assertions that they can't be sued in the state on innovator and warning label liability claims.

  • June 04, 2024

    Bread Financial Wants Suit Over Spinoff's 'Death Spiral' Axed

    Financial services company Bread Financial Holdings Inc. and its CEO have asked an Ohio federal judge to toss a proposed investor class action over the alleged "death spiral" of a now-bankrupt spinoff company, saying the suit actually details Bread's "good faith efforts" to establish the spinoff as a successful independent venture.

  • June 04, 2024

    Telecom Org. Says Expanding Universal Fund Only Way To Go

    The head of a major telecommunications industry group is urging Congress to tap big tech in order to keep the Universal Service Fund afloat, saying in a new article that "the solution to affordable connectivity is staring us in the face."

Expert Analysis

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • Key Antitrust Class Certification Questions Remain Unclear

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    The U.S. Supreme Court, by recently rejecting certiorari in Visa v. National ATM, turned down the opportunity to clarify how to analyze disputed evidence bearing on the certification of antitrust class actions, leaving the applicable standards unclear instead of resolving this split of authority, says Jonathan Berman at Jones Day.

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

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    With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

  • The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill

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    A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

  • What's Notable In JAMS' New Mass Arbitration Rules

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    The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services’ recently released guidelines, coming on the heels of similar American Arbitration Association amendments, suggests that mass arbitrations will remain an efficient means for consumers to vindicate their rights against companies, say Jonathan Waisnor and Brandon Heitmann at Labaton Keller. 

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

  • PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers

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    A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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