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Consumer Protection
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August 09, 2024
Highway Contractor, Exec Charged With $100M Price-Fixing
Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of an Oklahoma highway runoff contracting business and two of its employees for their involvement in a price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation conspiracy that impacted over $100 million in publicly funded construction contracts in the state.
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August 09, 2024
Mich. Pot Co. Alleges IP Atty, Wife Are Ruining Its Reputation
Efforts by a Montana intellectual property attorney and his wife to hit back after losing money in an alleged investment scam have missed the mark by targeting a Michigan cannabis company that was also ripped off, the company claimed Wednesday.
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August 09, 2024
Ads Group Nixes Anti-Hate Initiative Days After Musk Suit
The World Federation of Advertisers is pulling the plug on an initiative aimed at avoiding advertising next to hate speech and other "illegal or harmful content," days after drawing a lawsuit from Elon Musk's X Corp. calling the program an anticompetitive group boycott.
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August 09, 2024
Citibank's $29.5M Deal To End Robocall Row Gets First Nod
An Arizona federal judge has signed off on a deal that requires Citibank NA to pay $29.5 million to settle long-running litigation pressed by a class of noncustomers who accused the bank of bombarding them with unauthorized robocalls in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
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August 09, 2024
Jackson Lewis Adds East Coast Principals In Virginia, Florida
Jackson Lewis PC announced Thursday that it had hired two principals in Florida and Virginia whose practices focus on separate but essential areas of labor and employment law, one of whom is joining after spending his entire legal career at his previous firm.
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August 08, 2024
Jurors Weigh $200M For Carbon Monoxide Leak Victims
Counsel asked jurors during closing arguments Thursday in a Dallas County court to give his two child clients a voice after a carbon monoxide leak allegedly left them partially mute, saying that while his clients can't speak, the jurors can deliver a verdict to "speak for them."
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August 08, 2024
In Reddit Hot Seat, Chopra Touts CFPB Medical Debt Proposal
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra took to social media on Thursday to pitch the agency's proposed ban on medical debt reporting, defending it against concerns that the plan could interfere with credit scores and encourage people to skip out on medical bills.
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August 08, 2024
FCC Told To Drop Weiss For Broadband Funding Bank Ratings
More voices are lending themselves to the chorus calling on the Federal Communications Commission to look beyond Weiss Ratings' bank grading system when setting the standard for letters of credit that companies can use to back federally funded broadband networks.
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August 08, 2024
Oracle's $115M Deal For Selling Internet Users' Data Gets OK
A California federal judge on Thursday preliminarily approved Oracle's $115 million deal to end a proposed class action alleging that the software company illegally sold internet users' electronic profiles, but expressed concern over an "overly burdensome" opt-out process that Oracle's lawyer said would prevent "mass" opt-outs.
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August 08, 2024
House Rep. Wants Calif. To Pump Brakes On AI Safety Bill
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who represents Silicon Valley in Congress, has taken the rare step of voicing her opposition to a proposed California bill to set safety standards for large artificial intelligence models, arguing that the measure lacks a "sound evidentiary basis" and would stifle innovation without addressing real-world harms.
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August 08, 2024
Fed Hits Customers Bank With Crypto-Related Consent Order
The Federal Reserve said Thursday that it had entered into an enforcement action with Pennsylvania-based Customers Bank, pointing to risk management and anti-money laundering compliance deficiencies tied to the bank's "digital asset strategy."
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August 08, 2024
CFPB Urges 5th Circ. To Revive Anti-Bias Exam Policy
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has appealed to the Fifth Circuit to reinstate a 2022 policy that expanded the scope of the agency's anti-discrimination oversight, saying a Texas federal judge's decision to strike it down last year could allow even so-called debanking to go unexamined.
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August 08, 2024
Credit Repair Software Co., CEO To Pay $3M CFPB Fines
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday said a California-based software company and its CEO have agreed to pay a combined $3 million in fines to resolve a lawsuit alleging that the company assisted credit repair businesses that charged illegal advance fees to consumers.
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August 08, 2024
9th Circ. Revives Negligence Claims In Uber Sex Assault Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a woman's negligence claim against Uber Technologies Inc. over her sexual assault by a suspended driver, saying the company had a duty of care because it contributed to the situation that led to her being assaulted.
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August 08, 2024
2 States Eyeing Mark Cuban-Backed App's Cash Advances
Dave Inc., the maker of a digital banking app backed by billionaire Mark Cuban, is facing scrutiny from Maryland and Connecticut regulators in the wake of recent state efforts to treat paycheck advance products more like small-dollar loans, the financial technology company has told investors.
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August 08, 2024
J&J Settles Suit Alleging Sunscreen With Benzene Killed Boy
Johnson & Johnson has reached an agreement to end a personal injury suit by a father who claimed his 14-year-old son died from leukemia after prolonged exposure to its benzene-tainted sunscreen products, according to a settlement notice filed in North Carolina federal court Thursday.
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August 08, 2024
Alaska Airlines Passengers' Safety Suit Claims Are Trimmed
Alaska Airlines Inc. has evaded much of a passenger-led lawsuit claiming it allowed an off-duty crew member to enter their flight's cockpit, where he allegedly tried to crash the plane, with a Washington state court judge ruling that most of the suit is preempted by federal law.
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August 08, 2024
Equifax Not Responsible For Mortgage Denial, 7th Circ. Rules
A split Seventh Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive an Illinois woman's suit claiming she was denied a mortgage because Equifax didn't accurately report her credit history, finding Equifax could not be held liable for errors in another company's report combining data from all three major credit bureaus.
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August 08, 2024
Delta's Boies Attys Slam CrowdStrike's 'Blame The Victim' Ploy
Delta Air Lines' attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP on Thursday blasted CrowdStrike's "blame the victim" defense over last month's catastrophic global IT outage, and pledged to haul both the cybersecurity firm and Microsoft to court to recoup what Delta estimates to be over $500 million in revenue losses.
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August 08, 2024
Amazon Must Face Pandemic Price-Gouging Claims In Wash.
Washington's high court said on Thursday that Amazon can be sued under the state's Consumer Protection Act over alleged price-gouging early in the COVID-19 pandemic, but stopped short of agreeing with customers that the law bars specific markup percentages.
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August 08, 2024
Pot Cos. Get Creative To Boost Brands Despite Feds' TM Ban
The marijuana industry still lives in the shadows of trademark law while the drug remains federally illegal, leaving businesses and their lawyers to seek workarounds to protect their brands.
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August 08, 2024
Home Security Co. Can't Recreate $12.1M Contract, Court Told
The home security arm of building firm Toll Brothers on Thursday asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to nix three counterclaims from a contract lawsuit accusing another home security company of botching a $12.1 million home monitoring account purchase, saying the company was impermissibly reading language into the contract at issue and pressing duplicate allegations.
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August 08, 2024
FCC Adopts New Emergency Code For Missing Persons
The Federal Communications Commission has established a new alert code for missing and endangered persons that will deliver critical messages through television, radio and cellphones, a move the federal agency says will be of particular benefit to tribal communities that have a disproportionate risk of violence, murder or vanishing.
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August 08, 2024
Apple Must Produce Docs In Epic Antitrust Fight By Sept. 30
A California federal judge overseeing discovery in Epic Games' antitrust compliance fight with Apple gave the iPhone-maker a Sept. 30 deadline to hand over documentation on its response to foreign antitrust regulations and other internal documents, rejecting Apple's suggested December deadline and calling the 92,000-document review large but "not huge."
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August 08, 2024
SEC Wins Jurisdiction Over German As Sanction For Default
A German national who the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says has ignored discovery requests in its attempt to recover proceeds from a $150 million international pump and dump scheme involving his son is subject to personal jurisdiction in the U.S., a Boston federal judge ordered as a sanction.
Expert Analysis
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4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review
The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.
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FTC Focus: Competition And The Right To Repair
If the Federal Trade Commission includes commercial and industrial products as part of copyright exemptions that allow consumers to modify or repair products, then businesses and affected rights holders will need to consider copyrights' impact on infringement issues, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.
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Advisers Can Avoid Gaps In SEC Marketing Rule Compliance
A recent risk alert from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the enforcement history of the marketing rule indicate that advisers have encountered persistent difficulties in achieving compliance — but there are steps advisers can take to mitigate risks of violations, say Scott Moss and Jimmy Kang at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Air Ambulance Ruling Severely Undermines No Surprises Act
A Texas federal court's recent decision in Guardian Flight v. Health Care Service — that the No Surprises Act lacks a judicial remedy when a health insurer refuses to pay the amount established through an independent review — likely throws a huge monkey wrench into the elaborate protections the NSA was enacted to provide, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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In Biz Account Breaches, Look Beyond The Payment Platform
A business's legal path to recovering funds after bad actors access a payment platform account and engage in unauthorized transactions can lead into murky legal territory where liability is unclear, and pursuing the payment platform itself will be an uphill, if not insurmountable, struggle, say Edward Marshall and Morgan Harrison at Arnall Golden.
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4 Steps To Repair Defense Credibility In Opening Statements
Given the continued rise of record-breaking verdicts, defense counsel need to consider fresh approaches to counteract the factors coloring juror attitudes — starting with a formula for rebuilding credibility at the very beginning of opening statements, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.
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Prejudicial Evidence Takeaways From Trump Hush Money Trial
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office's prosecution and conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts provides a lesson on whether evidence may cause substantial unfair prejudice, or if its prejudicial potential is perfectly fair within the bounds of the law, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Making Plans For BNPL Consumer Protection Compliance
With an interpretive rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set to require buy-now, pay-later providers to implement credit card-like consumer safeguards by the end of July, loan providers must solidify their federally compliant customer dispute resolution and disclosure procedures before the newly emboldened bureau's deadline, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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New Laws, Regs Mean More Scrutiny Of Airline Carbon Claims
Recent climate disclosure laws and regulations in the U.S. and Europe mean that scrutiny of airlines' green claims will likely continue to intensify — so carriers must make sure their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through use of sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and carbon offsets measure up to their marketing, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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How Uyghur Forced Labor Law Affects Importing Companies
Amid a growing focus on forced labor in supply chains and a likely increase in enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, companies may face costly import delays unless they develop and implement compliance best practices, say Thad McBride and Lauren Gammer at Bass Berry.