Consumer Protection

  • September 12, 2024

    UK Watchdog Waters Down New Capital Rules For Banks

    The Prudential Regulation Authority published Thursday the second part of its rules on capital requirements for banks and has delayed their implementation by six months to the beginning of 2026.

  • September 12, 2024

    Navient Agrees To Pay $120M To End CFPB Student Loan Case

    Navient Corp. would be barred from servicing federal student loans and required to pay $120 million to settle allegations related to its student lending practices under a proposed settlement the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    Utah Social Media Law Blocked Amid 1st Amendment Fight

    A Utah federal judge has blocked the state from enforcing a new law requiring social media companies to verify the ages of minor users and impose restrictions on their accounts, saying the state law likely violates tech companies' First Amendment rights.

  • September 11, 2024

    FTC Fights Pa. Noncompete Ban Challenger's Pause Bid

    The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to reject a tree service company's bid to pause its challenge of the agency's noncompete ban, arguing that another district court's decision to set the ban aside nationwide doesn't justify a stay because the agency is mulling an appeal.

  • September 11, 2024

    Sprout Foods Can't Get 9th Circ. Redo In Baby Food Label Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Tuesday to rethink its decision that federal law doesn't preempt a couple's California state law claim over allegedly misleading nutrition labels on Sprout Foods baby food labels.

  • September 11, 2024

    Top Calif. Biz Bills Sitting On Gov. Newsom's Desk

    Among the hundreds of bills awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom's signature are a number that would create new guidelines for Golden State employers, healthcare industry players, as well as artificial intelligence labeling, textile recycling and increasing criminal penalties for corporate malfeasance by tens of millions of dollars.

  • September 11, 2024

    San Diego Utility Hit With Suit Over Wood Waste Runoff

    San Diego Gas & Electric is using a wood treatment mixture on its power poles and in its facilities that includes toxic chemicals that poison the environment and pose a danger to humans and animals nearby, according to a suit filed in California federal court Tuesday.

  • September 11, 2024

    Health Co. Owes $65M For Breach Of Medical Data, Nude Pics

    Pennsylvania-based healthcare company Lehigh Valley Health Network will pay $65 million to individuals who had their private information, including cancer patients' nude images, exposed in a data breach, the plaintiffs' lawyers announced Wednesday.

  • September 11, 2024

    EasyGroup Loses TMs After Suing For Infringement

    A London judge rejected a claim on Wednesday by easyGroup that EasyFundraising Ltd. was infringing its trademarks, as it concluded that the low-cost giant's brands covered different services.

  • September 11, 2024

    TD Bank To Pay $28M Over Consumer Reporting Failings

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hit TD Bank with a $20 million fine on Wednesday for its failures over inaccurate consumer credit reports and ordered it to pay nearly $8 million to customers, four years after the regulator imposed a $122 million fine against the bank over illegal overdraft fees.

  • September 11, 2024

    NC Car Parts Biz Racks Up $10M In Fines For Cheat Devices

    A North Carolina automotive components business will pay a $2.4 million criminal penalty on top of a $7 million civil fine for dealing devices used to skirt federal vehicle emissions controls, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

  • September 10, 2024

    Whole Foods, Hain Denied Full 5th Circ. Review In Baby Food Case

    The Fifth Circuit on Monday shut down a bid from grocery store chain Whole Foods and international food company Hain Celestial Group for a rehearing of a panel's decision remanding to state court a suit alleging Hain's baby food caused the mental and physical decline of a toddler.

  • September 10, 2024

    42 AGs Back Call For Social Media Warning Label Law

    A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general urged Congress on Tuesday to introduce warning labels on social media platforms in a bid to tackle risks posed to young people's mental health.

  • September 10, 2024

    Lumen Exits Rural Broadband Program In Parts Of Colo.

    Lumen Technologies is backing out of its obligation to deploy broadband in some parts of Colorado and three other states where it won rights to participate in the federal subsidy program to bring internet and voice service to unserved rural homes and small businesses.

  • September 10, 2024

    Prime Hydration Beats Most Beverage PFAS Claims, For Now

    A California federal judge on Monday declined to end a putative class action accusing Prime Hydration of misleadingly marketing its Grape Sports Drink as healthy when it contains so-called "forever chemicals," although she tossed most of the lawsuit's claims with leave to amend.

  • September 10, 2024

    Cybersecurity Co. Beats Suit Over Med Tech Data Breach

    A Massachusetts federal judge declined to hold information security technology company Barracuda Networks Inc. liable over a 2018 data breach that exposed the confidential information of more than 277,000 patients of medical device maker Zoll Medical Corp.

  • September 10, 2024

    T-Mobile Can't Change 4th Circ. Loss In 'Simply Prepaid' Fight

    T-Mobile failed Tuesday to undercut a Fourth Circuit decision that revived a Virginia-based cellphone company's infringement claims over the phrase "Simply Prepaid," with a panel of judges declining to grant the telecommunications giant's request for a second look.

  • September 10, 2024

    FCC Chair Vows High Court Fight Over Universal Service

    Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told educators the agency will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a recent Fifth Circuit decision against the Universal Service Fund, the federal program that subsidizes telecom service to low-income and hard-to-reach areas.

  • September 10, 2024

    Free Speech Or Bad Medicine? The Abortion 'Reversal' Battle

    The marketing of abortion pill "reversal" — a treatment doubted by medical groups but touted by anti-abortion advocates — is facing increased scrutiny from state attorneys general, triggering legal skirmishes in at least four states centered on First Amendment rights and consumer protection laws.

  • September 10, 2024

    GM Can't Arbitrate Claims Engines Were 'Engineered To Fail'

    General Motors LLC cannot arbitrate class claims that certain engines were "engineered to fail," an Ohio federal judge has ruled, citing recent Sixth Circuit guidance on when a party waives the right to resolve disputes out of court.

  • September 10, 2024

    Top EU Court Upholds €2.4B Google Shopping Fine

    The European Court of Justice rejected an appeal from Google on Tuesday challenging a €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) fine for steering users toward its own comparison shopping service, as the tech giant faces mounting pressure from antitrust enforcers at home and abroad.

  • September 09, 2024

    Yodlee Privacy Class Cert. Bid Faces Uphill Climb

    A California federal judge on Monday said she is "inclined" to find that three consumers claiming Yodlee Inc. unlawfully collected their banking data did not have standing to pursue claims or represent proposed classes alleging their transaction information was sold, even though the idea of the stored data is "creepy."

  • September 09, 2024

    DOJ Says 'Frustrated' Google Ad Tech Customers Are Stuck

    The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Virginia federal judge Monday to dismantle Google's hold over the technology used to place online display ads on website publishers' pages, asserting in opening arguments that the search giant has used its power to trap consumers and undermine competitors.

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-Lender Says FDIC Can't 'Ignore' Key High Court Precedents

    A former small-business financier battling a multimillion-dollar Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. enforcement action has doubled down on his Washington, D.C., federal court challenge to the agency's use of administrative proceedings, saying the regulator must be held to U.S. Supreme Court precedents.

Expert Analysis

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • 3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up

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    Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 12 Keys To Successful Post-Trial Juror Interviews

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    Post-trial interviews offer attorneys an avenue to gain valuable insights into juror decision making and get feedback that can inform future litigation strategies, but certain best practices must be followed to get the most out of this research tool, say Alexa Hiley and Brianna Smith at IMS Legal.

  • How Employers, Attorneys Can Respond To Noncompete Ban

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    As the Federal Trade Commission's recently issued noncompete ban faces ongoing legal challenges, now is a good time for employers to consider whether they want to take a wait-and-see approach before halting use of noncompetes and for practitioners to gain insight into other tools available to protect their clients' business interests, says Jennifer Platzkere Snyder at Dilworth Paxson.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.

  • New TSCA Risk Rule Gives EPA Broad Discretion On Science

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent final amendments to its framework for evaluating the risks of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act give it vast discretion over consideration of scientific information, without objective criteria to guide that discretion, say John McGahren and Debra Carfora at Morgan Lewis.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • CFPB's Expanding Scope Evident In Coding Bootcamp Fine

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent penalty against a for-profit coding bootcamp that misrepresented its tuition financing plans is a sign that the bureau is seeking to wield its supervisory and enforcement powers in more industries that offer consumer financing, say Jason McElroy and Brandon Sherman at Saul Ewing.

  • Fintech Compliance Amid Regulatory Focus On Sensitive Data

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent, expansive pursuit of financial services companies using sensitive personal information signals a move into the Federal Trade Commission's territory, and the path forward for fintech and financial service providers involves a balance between innovation and compliance, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

  • 4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • Lessons In High-Profile Jury Selection Amid NY Trump Trial

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    Richard Gabriel and Michelle Rey LaRocca at Decision Analysis consider how media exposure can affect a prospective juror in a high-profile case, the misunderstood nature of bias, and recommendations for jury selection in these unique situations as the Trump hush money trial continues in New York.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • The Effects Of New 10-Year Limitation On Key Sanctions Laws

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    Recently enacted emergency appropriations legislation, doubling the statute of limitations for civil and criminal economic sanctions violations, has significant implications for internal records retention, corporate transaction due diligence and government investigations, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • What 11th Circ. FCRA Ruling Means For Credit Furnishers

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    Credit furnishers should revisit their internal investigation and verification procedures after the Eleventh Circuit declined last month in Holden v. Holiday to impose a bright-line rule that only purely factual or transcription errors are actionable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, say Diana Eng and Michael Esposito at Blank Rome.

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