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Consumer Protection
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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June 04, 2024
DOJ Remains 'Clear Eyed' About No-Poach Prosecutions
A senior U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division prosecutor continued Tuesday to emphasize the importance of criminal cases accusing employers of fixing wages or curtailing recruitment and hiring of workers from rivals, asserting that despite courtroom defeats, enforcers are trying to learn from past failures.
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June 04, 2024
Meta, Texas Strike Deal To End State's Biometric Privacy Suit
Meta Platforms Inc. and Texas' attorney general have agreed to settle the state's suit accusing the social media giant of using its facial recognition technology to illegally collect Facebook users' biometric information without their consent, the parties told a state court.
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June 04, 2024
Fla. Biz Owners Indicted On Grant-Writing Fraud Conspiracy
Two northern Florida business owners have been federally indicted on fraud conspiracy-related charges in connection to a scheme in which they allegedly stole nearly $3 million from minority-owned companies by promising grant-writing services that were never delivered.
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June 04, 2024
10th Circ. Backs CPSC In Baby Lounger Injunction Dispute
The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday sided with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in an appeal by a pillow company aiming to block a CPSC proceeding against it over one of its infant products, saying even if the company can show that removal protections for CPSC's commissioners and a judge are unconstitutional, the company hasn't shown how that affects its case.
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June 04, 2024
Wildfire Attys Descend On Colo. As Xcel Litigation Ramps Up
Hundreds of lawsuits seeking to hold Xcel Energy responsible for a devastating 2021 Colorado wildfire are just the latest battleground for a relatively small community of lawyers who have been involved in some of the biggest catastrophic fire suits in the western U.S.
Expert Analysis
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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.
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The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases
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.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer
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.
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How Breach Reporting Is Changing For Financial Institutions
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.
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Opinion
UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason
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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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 'Undue Hardship'
Former U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Gordon reflects on his journey from student borrower to judicial observer, highlighting the challenges faced by modern students burdened with student loan debt and advocating for reform in bankruptcy laws, particularly regarding the "undue hardship" element of discharge.
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Opinion
Suits Against Insulin Pricing Are Driven By Rebate Addiction
A growing wave of lawsuits filed by states, cities and counties against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly allocate the blame for rising insulin costs, when in actuality the plaintiffs are partially responsible, says Dan Leonard at Granite Capitol Consulting.
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Conn. Data Privacy Enforcement Takeaways For Cos.
In light of the Connecticut attorney general's recently released report on its enforcement of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which focuses on companies' privacy policies, protections of sensitive data and more, businesses can expect increased enforcement scrutiny — especially in areas that are the subject of consumer complaints, say Paul Pittman and Abdul Hafiz at White & Case.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition
Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Regulatory Trends Offer 4 Lessons For Debt Relief Providers
A string of enforcement actions, including a New York lawsuit filed last month by seven states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, underscore the regulatory scrutiny that debt relief and credit repair companies face and offer important lessons on telemarketing and deceptive practices compliance, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Opinion
Contractors Need Protection From NJ Homeowner Protections
A recently passed New Jersey law, combined with the state's Consumer Fraud Act, is intended to protect innocent homeowners, but legislative action must be taken to prevent homeowners from abusing the law to avoid paying hardworking contractors, say Gary Strong and Madison Calkins at Gfeller Laurie.
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Bracing Cos. For Calif. Privacy Agency's Restored Authority
A recent California state appeals court decision greenlights the California Privacy Protection Agency's enforcement of certain consumer privacy regulations, which may speed up compliance requirements, so businesses considering use of artificial intelligence, for instance, may want to reassess their handling of privacy notices and opt-out requests, say Kevin Angle and Matthew Cin at Ropes & Gray.