Consumer Protection

  • August 12, 2024

    Ease Letter Of Credit Rules For Tribal Broadband, FCC Urged

    Tribal telecom carriers have called on the Federal Communications Commission to ease or eliminate bank credit restrictions for tribes bidding on federally funded broadband deployment projects, pointing to unique challenges they face in securing the required letters of credit.

  • August 12, 2024

    Markel Says No Coverage For Film-Financing Scheme Claims

    A Markel unit said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a wealth manager or his companies against underlying claims that they misled investors into financing various film projects, telling an Illinois federal court that their policy bars coverage for claims arising out of the sale of securities. 

  • August 12, 2024

    Lending Co. Best Egg Can Arbitrate Interest Rate Dispute

    Online lender Best Egg can force arbitration of a proposed class action claiming it charged borrowers unlawfully high interest rates, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling an online checkbox is enough to indicate borrowers' consent to arbitrate.

  • August 12, 2024

    Paragard IUD Makers Gearing Up For Defect Dismissal Bid

    Teva Pharmaceuticals and The Cooper Cos. have five days to reach out to plaintiffs who may be included in a motion to dismiss the sprawling litigation over alleged defects in the Paragard IUD, a Georgia federal judge said Monday.

  • August 12, 2024

    SEC Accuses Crypto Co., Execs, Promoters Of $650M Fraud

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued crypto trading firm Nova Tech Ltd., its founders and promoters in Florida federal court for their roles in an alleged $650 million fraud and pyramid scheme that targeted many in the Haitian American community.

  • August 12, 2024

    Microplastics False Ad Complaint 'Doesn't Hold Water'

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action alleging that BlueTriton Brands Inc. doesn't tell consumers that its Ice Mountain spring water contains microplastics, saying no reasonable consumer would believe "100% natural spring water" is a guarantee down to the molecular level.

  • August 12, 2024

    TikTok Hit With Another Children's Privacy Breach Suit

    A group of parents has filed a proposed class action against TikTok and its parent company in California federal court alleging invasion of privacy and unfair business practices targeting millions of children under age 13 across the United States.

  • August 12, 2024

    States Oppose Shkreli High Court Bid For $64M Disgorgement

    State enforcers are opposing a petition from ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a disgorgement order requiring him to pay up to $64 million for an alleged scheme to increase the price of a life-saving drug by 4,000%

  • August 12, 2024

    Cannabis Drink Cos. Drop Challenge To Iowa THC Law

    After failing to temporarily block an Iowa law that imposed new restrictions on hemp-derived THC consumables, two manufactures of cannabis-infused drinks have decided to drop their lawsuit seeking to upend the statute, according to a notice filed in federal court.

  • August 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Revives Businessman's Suit Over Mueller Report

    A Georgian-American businessman discussed in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election can pursue claims that inaccuracies in the report harmed his reputation and business dealings, the D.C. Circuit said Friday.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ally Bank Latest Auto Lender To Challenge Mass. Towing Law

    Ally Bank has told a Massachusetts federal judge that a towing company should be on the hook for the value of a Lexus it sold despite the bank's lien, marking the latest challenge to what the lender calls an "outdated and unconstitutional" state law.

  • August 12, 2024

    Big Tobacco To Pay $600M In 'Historic' Mass. Deal

    Philip Morris Inc. and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. will pay nine-figure sums as part of a $600 million settlement between Massachusetts and major tobacco companies that resolves yearslong disputes about how much the cigarette makers owe, the state attorney general announced Monday.

  • August 09, 2024

    Ex-Twitter Board Member Says X Owes Him $23M From Stock

    A former member of Twitter's board of directors who helped oversee the sale of the social media company to Elon Musk in 2022 claimed X Corp. owes him more than $23 million worth of vested and unvested shares, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in California state court.

  • August 09, 2024

    Google Beats Users' Challenge To Apple Pact, For Now

    A California federal judge on Friday dismissed, for now, consumers' suit alleging that Google made an illegal pact with Apple to serve as the iPhone's default search engine, a decision that comes days after a D.C. federal court held that Google is a monopolist in a separate antitrust case.

  • August 09, 2024

    Ripple Claims Victory In SEC Suit But Paid A Price

    Ripple Labs Inc. celebrated the end of its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a "clear victory" that cut through the regulator's bid for $2 billion over the exchange's unregistered institutional sales of its XRP token, but experts told Law360 the $125 million fine and injunction Ripple faces is much more than a speeding ticket to end a costly four-year battle.

  • August 09, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Affirms Ax Of Meta Anti-Vax Censorship Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit panel Friday affirmed the dismissal of Children's Health Defense's lawsuit challenging Meta's policy of censoring its anti-vaccine Facebook posts, with the majority concluding that the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-founded nonprofit failed to show Meta was acting on the government's behalf to state viable constitutional claims.

  • August 09, 2024

    X Halts Training AI On EU Users' Posts After Irish Backlash

    X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, has agreed to suspend its efforts to train its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok on personal data lifted from public posts made by its users in the European Union, on the heels of Ireland's data protection commission making an urgent appeal to an Irish court to shut down the practice.

  • August 09, 2024

    Gemini Seeks Quick 2nd Circ. Appeal In CFTC Fight

    Gemini Trust Co. has asked a New York federal judge for permission to quickly appeal to the Second Circuit a June ruling denying the Winklevoss-led crypto exchange a win in the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's lawsuit alleging Gemini illegally downplayed known risks of its proposed bitcoin futures contract.

  • August 09, 2024

    Lowe's Arbitration Clause For Online Buyers Found 'Illusory'

    Lowe's Home Centers LLP must go to court to face a proposed class action accusing the store of deceptively slipping unneeded items into shoppers' online carts, a Virginia federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting the home improvement giant's bid for arbitration.

  • August 09, 2024

    Conn. AG Knocks Altice's Bid To Rewrite Consumer Fee Case

    The state of Connecticut says it should not be forced to redraft a lawsuit accusing Altice USA of improperly charging consumers a $6 "network enhancement fee" and pushing misleading internet speed advertisements, saying the telecommunications provider has gone so far as to seek "clarification" of "commonly understood words of phrases."

  • August 09, 2024

    Wash. Hospital Patients Can't Certify 'Fail Safe' Classes

    A Washington federal judge on Friday rejected a certification attempt in a proposed class action accusing a hospital system of incentivizing two of its doctors to perform medically unnecessary surgeries, but said the plaintiffs would have the chance to address the litany of defects by amending their suit.

  • August 09, 2024

    Royal Match Game App Fosters Gambling Addiction, Suit Says

    A Washington state woman has filed a proposed class action against a Turkish developer, saying it violates state gambling laws with its allegedly addictive Royal Match mobile game that requires players to purchase virtual gold coins for continuous play.

  • August 09, 2024

    Rugby League's US Subscribers Say Private Info Was Stolen

    The international streaming service for Australian professional rugby disclosed personal information to Meta and other parties without the subscribers' knowledge or consent, according to a proposed class action from subscribers filed on Friday in California federal court.

  • August 09, 2024

    Biz Groups Urge Keeping CFPB's $8 Late Fee Cap On Ice

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association and other trade group plaintiffs have urged a Texas federal judge to leave in place an injunction staying the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule capping most credit card late fees at $8, saying the lowered fee would not serve as a sufficient deterrent for consumers.

  • August 09, 2024

    Home Sellers Get Approved For $250M HomeServices Deal

    A Missouri federal judge granted preliminary approval for a $250 million class action settlement to end an antitrust suit filed by home sellers who accused the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America Inc. and other companies of conspiring to artificially inflate broker commission fees.

Expert Analysis

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry

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    Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Nat'l Security Considerations For Telecom Products Counsel

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    An increase in federal national security measures in the telecommunications space, particularly from the Federal Communications Commission, means that products counsel need to broaden their considerations as they advise on new products and services, says Laura Stefani at Venable.

  • Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

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    A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

  • Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.

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    The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.

  • Unpacking The Increasingly Popular Fair Credit Billing Act

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    The Fair Credit Billing Act is receiving increased attention from regulators and consumers disputing credit card charges, so creditors should understand its procedural requirements — including the law's focus on the mechanics of a dispute and its potential to create civil liability, say David Gettings and Courtney Hitchcock at Troutman Pepper.

  • Takeaways From EU's Initial Findings On Apple's App Store

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    A deep dive into the European Commission's recent preliminary findings that Apple's App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act reveal that enforcement of the EU's Big Tech law might go beyond the literal text of the regulation and more toward the spirit of compliance, say William Dolan and Pratik Agarwal at Rule Garza.

  • 2 Rulings Serve As Conversion Fee Warnings For Banks

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    A comparison of the different outcomes in Wright v. Capital One in a Virginia federal court, and in Guerrero v. Bank of America in a North Carolina federal court, highlights how banks must be careful in describing how currency exchange fees and charges are determined in their customer agreements, say attorneys at Weiner Brodsky.

  • Expect CFPB To Enforce Warning Against 'Coercive' Fine Print

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    The recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warning against unenforceable terms "deceptively" slipped into the fine print of contracts will likely be challenged in court, but until then, companies should expect the agency to treat its guidance as law and must carefully scrutinize their consumer contracts, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • Loss Causation Ruling Departs From Usual Securities Cases

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    A California federal court recently dismissed Ramos v. Comerica, finding that the allegations failed to establish loss causation, but the reasoning is in tension with the pleading-stage approaches generally followed by both courts and economists in securities fraud litigation, say Jesse Jensen and Aasiya Glover at Bernstein Litowitz.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

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    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.

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