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Consumer Protection
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September 26, 2024
Tornado Cash Developer Must Face Criminal Case
The founder of cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash can't escape charges he conspired to launder money and violate sanctions, after a Manhattan federal judge ruled in an oral opinion Thursday that his "narrative" of being prosecuted over writing computer code should be put before a jury.
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September 26, 2024
Keller Postman Defends Hitting Tubi With 23K Arbitration Claims
Keller Postman LLC on Wednesday defended filing arbitration demands against Tubi Inc. without waiting 45 days after providing notice of claims, and urged a D.C. federal judge to toss the TV content platform's lawsuit, arguing that arbitration is the only route its clients have to dispute the enforceability of the contractual delay.
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September 26, 2024
Senate Bill Calls For Stronger Healthcare Cyber Standards
Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday aiming to better protect patient health information and avoid cyberattacks by strengthening cybersecurity standards, months after a highly publicized data breach earlier this year of a UnitedHealth unit that lacked basic security measures like two-factor authentication.
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September 26, 2024
General Mills Seeks To Ax Suit Claiming Cocoa Puffs Has Lead
General Mills urged a California federal court to toss a proposed consumer class action claiming its Cocoa Puffs cereal contains undisclosed and high levels of lead, saying the suit is based on a "flawed and implausible theory" that doesn't show lead is present in the cereal at unsafe levels.
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September 26, 2024
Colo. AG Says He Won't Call 'Ticky Tack' Privacy Fouls
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told an audience of attorneys and privacy professionals Thursday that part of his privacy enforcement strategy is not to needle companies that are trying to comply with the law for minor violations.
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September 26, 2024
2nd Circ. Denies Jury Trial In Abbott Labs Gray Market Case
A man and his wife involved in the sale of gray market diabetes test strips on Tuesday were unable to persuade the Second Circuit to undo the $33.4 million judgment they owe to Abbott Laboratories after a federal judge stripped them of their right to a jury trial.
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September 26, 2024
FCC Hits Alleged Pirate Radio Operators With $1.8M In Fines
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday slapped more than $800,000 in fines on three alleged pirate radio operators in the Miami area and proposed $1 million in forfeitures against three others in the New York City area.
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September 26, 2024
Snowflake, AT&T Data Breach Suit Must Be Joined, JPML Told
An attorney for plaintiffs suing cloud provider Snowflake Inc., which counts AT&T Inc. among its clients and suffered a series of high-profile hacks, urged the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Thursday to consolidate all related litigation, saying the disputes revolve around common issues.
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September 26, 2024
Walgreens Struggles To Exit 'Non-Drowsy' Label Suit In Wash.
The Washington State Supreme Court questioned Thursday whether Walgreens could avoid state consumer protection claims over its "non-drowsy" cough medicine label by pointing to a lack of federal labeling requirements for the drug, with one justice calling the argument a non sequitur.
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September 26, 2024
FCC Opens Airwaves For NGSO Fixed Satellite Services
The Federal Communications Commission agreed Thursday to set aside a swath of spectrum in the 17 gigahertz band for non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite services, a move the agency says will advance competition and high-speed connectivity.
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September 26, 2024
Visa Case Continues Antitrust Focus On 'Middlemen'
The antitrust case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Visa on Tuesday is the administration's latest attack on commercial "middlemen" that enforcers say contribute to high consumer prices by using their dominance to charge inflated fees.
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September 26, 2024
Senate OKs Bill To Vet Broadband Funding Winners
The U.S. Senate has approved a bill to require screening of broadband providers for their ability to meet obligations under federal funding programs to subsidize deployment of high-speed service.
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September 26, 2024
Judge Certifies COVID-19 Refund Action Against Cedar Fair
An Ohio federal judge certified two classes of 2020 season pass holders with amusement park company Cedar Fair LP — which recently merged with Six Flags Entertainment Corp. — and also added some subclasses for the pass holders' claims that they are entitled to refunds after the amusement parks they bought passes for were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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September 26, 2024
Chancery Tosses Carvana Suit Alleging Faulty Sales
Delaware's chancellor has dismissed a stockholder derivative case against online used-car dealer Carvana Inc. that sought damages for alleged insider trading and legal complaince monitoring failures, a case that defense attorneys had branded "repackaged" from past or pending federal securities actions.
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September 26, 2024
4th Circ. Judge Thrashes Vets' Argument In Citibank Fee Suit
A Fourth Circuit judge on Thursday ripped military members' argument that they must be allowed under a military-members-lending law to proceed in federal court with a proposed class action alleging Citibank charged illegal fees, with the judge stressing that the statute is silent on forbidding arbitration.
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September 26, 2024
Ford Says $1.7B Ga. Verdict No Excuse For Delayed Claims
Lawyers for Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it strains credulity that Super Duty truck drivers didn't learn about their allegedly weak roofs until a billion-dollar jury verdict in Georgia, arguing in Michigan that decades of other suits and government documents could have clued in the plaintiffs sooner.
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September 26, 2024
5th Circ. Says Pair Can't Challenge Wi-Fi Program's New Rules
The Fifth Circuit won't take up a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's new rules allowing for subsidized Wi-Fi off campus through the E-Rate program for schools and libraries, granting the FCC's motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction while an in-house challenge from the petitioners proceeds.
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September 26, 2024
Conn. PFAS Water Pollution Suit Returned To State Court
A Connecticut federal judge has sent back to state court a proposed class action accusing the Connecticut Water Co. of knowingly selling water contaminated with dangerous levels of PFAS and failing to take steps to remove the pollutants, saying the water supply system's arguments are "fatally flawed."
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September 26, 2024
En Banc 9th Circ. Doubts Dismissal Of Shopify Privacy Suit
Ninth Circuit judges sitting en banc Thursday appeared dubious of an earlier panel's conclusion that a California federal court lacked personal jurisdiction over Golden State consumers' privacy claims against Shopify Inc., questioning how internet companies could ever face tort claims if this were the law.
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September 26, 2024
Arthur J. Gallagher To Pay $21M To End Data Breach Suits
Insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has agreed to pay $21 million to resolve several lawsuits consolidated in Illinois alleging that it failed to protect more than 3 million customers from a data breach that compromised their personally identifiable information, with an Illinois federal judge giving her initial blessing to the deal Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
4th Circ. Hints Rocket Mortgage Class Cert. Is On Shaky Ground
The Fourth Circuit on Thursday seemed skeptical that all potential class members who accused Rocket Mortgage of inflating their home values could prove they were injured under the U.S. Supreme Court's heightened pleading standard in TransUnion, putting the lower court's certification order on rocky footing.
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September 26, 2024
Apple Protests Atty Fee Bid In $35M Deal With Scam Victims
Apple Inc. urged a California federal court to limit the fee awarded to plaintiffs' attorneys from a $35 million settlement over allegations it did not stop scammers from tricking victims into using iTunes gift cards for payments, saying the 33% fee sought is too high for the "fair but unexceptional recovery."
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September 26, 2024
Atty Sheehan Owes $144K Fees For 'Frivolous' Big Lots Suit
Prolific New York-based consumer advocate attorney Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC must cover the approximately $144,000 tab for attorney fees incurred amid the "frivolous" coffee labeling suit he brought against national retailer Big Lots Inc., a Florida federal judge has ordered.
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September 26, 2024
Robinhood Arbitration Pact Not Obvious To Users, Judge Says
Robinhood Financial LLC cannot show that a user who claims the platform failed to notify him of important developments regarding his investments was made aware of an arbitration clause buried in the company's user agreement, a Massachusetts state court judge said.
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September 25, 2024
In-House Counsel To Play Central Role At AI Cos., VCs Say
Venture capital firms expect in-house counsel at artificial intelligence companies to play a bigger role in their businesses due to regulatory uncertainties around AI, while a professor who helped pioneer the technology warned that transparency of commercial AI businesses should be "top of mind," attorneys heard at the seventh annual Berkeley Law AI Institute Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State
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.
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Series
After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
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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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Synapse Bankruptcy Has Ripple Effects For Fintech Industry
Synapse Financial Technologies’ recent bankruptcy filing marks a significant moment in the fintech industry's evolution, highlighting that stringent compliance and risk management in fintech partnerships are essential to mitigate risk and protect consumers, say Joann Needleman and Ryan Blumberg at Clark Hill.
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Opinion
Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs
We learned during the spring 2023 failures that bank runs can happen extraordinarily fast in light of modern technology, especially when banks have a greater concentration of large deposits, demonstrating that the antiquated but effective discount window needs to be overhauled before the next crisis, says Cris Cicala at Stinson.
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Mitigating Risks Amid 10-Year Sanctions Enforcement Window
In response to recent legislation, which doubles the statute of limitations for actions related to certain U.S. sanctions and provides regulators greater opportunity to investigate possible violations, companies should take specific steps to account for the increased civil and criminal enforcement risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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Series
After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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How Attorneys Can Reduce Bad Behavior At Deposition
To minimize unprofessional behavior by opposing counsel and witnesses, and take charge of the room at deposition, attorneys should lay out some key ground rules at the outset — and be sure to model good behavior themselves, says John Farrell at Fish & Richardson.
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Best Text Practices In Light Of Terraform's $4.5B Fraud Deal
Text messages were extremely important in a recent civil trial against Terraform Labs, leading to a $4.5 billion settlement, so litigants in securities fraud cases need to have robust mobile data policies that address the content and retention of messages, and the obligations of employees to allow for collection, say Josh Sohn and Alicia Clausen at Crowell & Moring.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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CFPB's New Registration Rule Will Intensify Nonbank Scrutiny
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently finalized nonbank registration rule aimed at cracking down on repeat offenders poses significant compliance challenges and enforcement risks for nonbank financial firms, and may be particularly onerous for smaller firms, say Ketan Bhirud and Emily Yu at Cozen O'Connor.
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Series
After Chevron: FCC And Industry Must Prepare For Change
The Chevron doctrine was especially significant in the communications sector because of the indeterminacy of federal communications statutes, so the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the doctrine could have big implications for those regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, bringing both opportunities and risks for companies, say Thomas Johnson and Michael Showalter at Wiley.