Consumer Protection

  • June 12, 2024

    FTC Asks 4th Circ. To Pause Novant Hospital Purchase

    The Federal Trade Commission has asked the Fourth Circuit to pause Novant Health's purchase of a North Carolina hospital while enforcers appeal an order from the lower court that refused to put the deal on hold for the commission's in-house merger challenge.

  • June 12, 2024

    Lawmakers Reach Deal With DOD On Spectrum Sharing

    A Senate committee said late Tuesday that lawmakers reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense that will allow legislation for new sales of commercial spectrum licenses to move forward.

  • June 12, 2024

    Transit Insurer Seeks To Limit Loss From $60M No-Fault Scam

    A taxi and livery insurer told a Brooklyn federal judge Wednesday that it is pursuing settlement in its effort to recoup $3.2 million lost in a massive, $60 million no-fault scam led by a former clinic operator now headed for prison.

  • June 12, 2024

    Terraform To Settle With SEC For $4.5B After Fraud Trial

    Crypto firm Terraform Labs has agreed to a $4.47 billion settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after a Manhattan jury found the firm and its founder Do Kwon liable for fraud in April.

  • June 12, 2024

    Ashley Furniture Faces Data Breach Suit Over 2023 Hack

    Ashley Furniture customers hit the home furnishing retailer with a proposed class action in Texas federal court Monday, accusing the company of negligence over its failure to safeguard their personal information — which was compromised during a cyberattack a year ago — and of waiting months to notify them.

  • June 12, 2024

    NJ Judicial Privacy Law Hit With Constitutional Challenge

    Companies accused of violating Daniel's Law hit back in New Jersey federal court this week, calling the judicial data privacy protection measure unconstitutionally vague, harsh and riddled with loopholes, and arguing it is being "cynically" misused by the plaintiff, a data privacy company.

  • June 12, 2024

    Pool Co. Hits Ch. 11 After 'Crippling' $16M False Ads Verdict

    The American arm of a Chinese swimming pool products manufacturer has declared bankruptcy after it was slapped with a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment in North Carolina that the company previously warned would put it out of business.

  • June 11, 2024

    Pa. Health System Shakes Meta Data Sharing Row For Now

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has tossed a putative class action accusing a nonprofit health system of unlawfully sharing information about website visitors' activities with Meta Platforms Inc., finding that the plaintiff had failed to adequately detail what protected health data had been disclosed. 

  • June 11, 2024

    Tyco's $750M PFAS Deal In Foam Co. MDL Gets Initial OK

    A South Carolina federal judge gave his blessing Tuesday to the $750 million settlement Johnson Controls International PLC subsidiary Tyco Fire Products LP entered to resolve public water systems' federal claims that some forever chemicals they detected in their supplies came from firefighting foam it made.

  • June 11, 2024

    2nd Circ. Cites Macquarie In Booting Suit Over Go-Private Deal

    The Second Circuit refused to revive a proposed class action accusing a real estate services provider of artificially depressing share prices, applying apparently for the first time the U.S. Supreme Court's Macquarie decision on alleged failures to disclose certain information.

  • June 11, 2024

    Listing Co. Urges Court To Ignore DOJ's Broker Deal Issues

    A multiple listing service that has struck a $3 million settlement over broker commission rules told a Massachusetts federal court the changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice go far beyond what's required and would create an antitrust problem in the real estate industry.

  • June 11, 2024

    Prison Phone Cos. Want To Factor Security Cost Into Rates

    Prison phone call providers need to be allowed to factor the cost of safety and security features into the rates that they charge incarcerated people to contact their loved ones, a trio of companies has told the Federal Communications Commission.

  • June 11, 2024

    NFL Balks At Delays, Amendments To Mobile App Privacy Suit

    A proposed class action alleging that the NFL failed to protect data on its mobile app should not be allowed to replace the lead plaintiff, especially after he has exhibited a "lack of diligence and delay" during the suit, the league told a Rhode Island federal judge Tuesday.

  • June 11, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge On Theranos Appeal: 'Good Story' For Holmes

    Two Ninth Circuit judges on a three-judge panel expressed concerns Tuesday that the district judge presiding over convicted former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal trial erred by allowing a layperson witness to offer expert testimony at trial, with one judge saying, "There's a pretty good story here for Ms. Holmes."

  • June 11, 2024

    Granulated Sugar Price-Fixing Cases Centralized In Minn.

    A collection of price-fixing suits against some of the country's biggest refined sugar manufacturers is being consolidated in Minnesota federal court, with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation choosing the venue over federal courts in New York.

  • June 11, 2024

    HashiCorp Hit With Investor Suit Over $6.4B Sale To IBM

    Software company HashiCorp Inc. and its board members face an investor suit seeking to halt an upcoming shareholder vote on a proposed $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp by tech giant IBM, alleging the deal would unfairly benefit company insiders and hasn't been properly detailed in required filings.

  • June 11, 2024

    Southwest Ditches 2022 Holiday Mayhem Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a group of Southwest Airlines customers' proposed breach of contract class action stemming from massive flight cancellations during the airline's December 2022 holiday-week meltdown but gave the plaintiffs another shot to bolster their claims.

  • June 11, 2024

    4 More States Join DOJ's Antitrust Suit Against Apple

    The attorneys general of Washington, Massachusetts, Nevada and Indiana on Tuesday became the latest to join the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit in New Jersey federal court claiming Apple is monopolizing the smartphone market.

  • June 11, 2024

    Capital One Will Face Savings-Rate MDL In Its Home District

    Virginia-headquartered Capital One will face suits over allegedly misleading marketing for its high-yield savings accounts in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has determined.

  • June 11, 2024

    NJ Supreme Court Rejects Bid For Roundup Mass Tort

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has rejected a request for litigation against Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG to be designated as multicounty litigation because there are too few cases, according to a notice to the bar published Monday.

  • June 11, 2024

    Wells Fargo Seeks Exit From 'Free Trial' Marketing Scam Suit

    Wells Fargo on Tuesday asked a California federal judge to let it escape a lawsuit alleging that the bank's problematic sales practices led it to play a supporting role in two "free trial" marketing scams that pulled in $200 million from consumers, arguing there is no admissible evidence to support the plaintiff's "story."

  • June 11, 2024

    FCC Looks To Fine Telecom $2.6M For Failing To Pay Fees

    The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it plans to fine a Texas telecom $2.65 million for failing to pay required fees to support an array of FCC programs, including low-income subsidies, services for disabled consumers and phone number portability.

  • June 11, 2024

    Biz Groups Urge 6th Circ. To Put Net Neutrality On Hold

    Industry groups want the Sixth Circuit to put the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules on hold while they are litigated and to reject an FCC bid to move numerous consolidated challenges to the D.C. Circuit.

  • June 11, 2024

    FTC Gets Short Extension On Novant Deal Pause

    A North Carolina federal court Tuesday extended an order preventing Novant Health from closing its $320 million deal for a pair of hospitals in the state by 10 days to give the Federal Trade Commission time to ask the Fourth Circuit to pause the transaction.

  • June 11, 2024

    AI Hiring Platform's Ex-CEO Charged With $27M Fraud

    The founder of hiring startup Joonko Diversity Inc. has been charged with fraud, with prosecutors saying Tuesday that she deceived investors into dumping $27 million into a platform that supposedly used artificial intelligence to help companies recruit diverse job candidates. 

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Notification Pitfalls To Avoid With Arbitration Provisions

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    In Lipsett v. Popular Bank, the Second Circuit found that a bank's arbitration provision was unenforceable due to insufficient notice to a customer that he was bound by the agreement, highlighting the importance of adequate communication of arbitration provisions, and customers' options for opting out, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Tips For Orgs Facing AI Data Privacy Compliance Challenges

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    Regulators around the world are actively seeking to enforce data privacy and consumer protection laws against companies providing artificial intelligence-related services, raising complex compliance questions in areas like transparency, data minimization, lawfulness of processing, data subject rights and higher risk activities, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC

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    Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.

  • Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims

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    Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.

  • Enforcement Risk Amid Increased Consumer Data Use

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    While no state has introduced a private right of action for noncompliance with a comprehensive consumer privacy law — except for the California Consumer Privacy Act's data breach provision — organizations and retailers face risk from enforcement actions by state attorneys general and privacy regulators, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling Is Cautionary Tale For Debt Collectors

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    A Florida bankruptcy court recently rejected the assertion that a debt purchaser was entitled to enforce a debt not correctly listed on the debtor's bankruptcy schedules, and the sanctions imposed provide a stark reminder on due diligence in debt collection practices, say Deborah Kovsky-Apap and Stefanie Jackman at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    The Problems In Calif. Draft Behavioral Ad Privacy Regs

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency has an opportunity with its automated decision-making technology and profiling rulemaking to harmonize California's regulation of data-driven advertising, but this will be a failure unless several things are changed in its proposed treatment of behavioral advertising, say Alan Friel and Kyle Fath at Squire Patton.

  • 5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.

  • The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases

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    A recent California federal court partial class certification ruling was a rare victory for plaintiffs in a case over slack-fill empty space in packaged products, indicating that damages arguments may be important at the certification stage, say Sushrut Jain and Valentina Bernasconi at Edgeworth Economics.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer

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    A case pending in the Southern District of New York will examine whether decentralized crypto co-op MakerDAO is a partnership with the capacity to be sued in federal court, and the decision could shape how legal frameworks will adapt to accommodate blockchain technologies moving forward, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • How Breach Reporting Is Changing For Financial Institutions

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    In May, the Federal Trade Commission's amended Safeguards Rule will extend the data protections that apply to information held by banks to information held by nonbanking financial institutions — and sweep even more broadly in some critical aspects, say Evan Yahng and Kurt Hunt at Dinsmore.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

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    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

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