Consumer Protection

  • August 20, 2024

    FCC Says No To 8 Nonprofit Stations In Texas

    The Federal Communications Commission says it is not approving eight applications for new low power FM stations because the Christian entities that applied for them appear to actually all be part of the same organization, which does not qualify as an educational nonprofit.

  • August 20, 2024

    LOT Polish Airlines Objects To DOJ-Boeing 737 Max Plea Deal

    LOT Polish Airlines has urged a Texas federal judge to reject Boeing's plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, saying the deal deprives restitution to airline customers that incurred millions in losses because Boeing defrauded regulators about the 737 Max 8's development.

  • August 20, 2024

    Split 6th Circ. Revives FCRA Claims Against Experian

    A partially divided Sixth Circuit has reversed a lower court's decision to toss a consumer's Fair Credit Reporting Act claims against Experian concerning alleged delinquent spousal support payments, ruling in part on Monday that Experian failed to properly investigate court orders acknowledging the man's compliance with the payments.

  • August 20, 2024

    Verizon Customer Says Stalker Got Her Info, Arrived With Knife

    A Verizon Communications Inc. customer alleges in a North Carolina federal court complaint that the telecom violated federal privacy law when it gave her private information to a stalker who was threatening to kill her, allowing him to arrive at her house with a knife.

  • August 20, 2024

    Texas Judge Blocks FTC's Impending Ban On Noncompetes

    A Texas federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked the Federal Trade Commission's looming ban on noncompete agreements in employment contracts, setting aside the regulation with a conclusion that it's beyond the agency's authority.

  • August 20, 2024

    Local Chamber Can't Keep CFPB Case In Texas, Agency Says

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a Texas federal judge that the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce has, at most, a flimsy connection to a challenge to a new $8 credit card late fee rule, renewing its call to dismiss the local chamber and transfer the case in its latest brief.

  • August 20, 2024

    FCC Can't Subsidize Off-Campus Wi-Fi, Think Tank Argues

    A free-market group criticized the Federal Communications Commission's new program to subsidize Wi-Fi service for schools and libraries, saying it is not just a dubious policy choice but breaks with the statutory limits that Congress set for the E-Rate program.

  • August 20, 2024

    FTC Endorses Push For Broader Access To Biosimilar Drugs

    The Federal Trade Commission is backing a proposal that would make it easier for drugmakers to show biosimilar medicines are safe substitutes for their more expensive counterparts, a move the agency says would boost competition and reduce confusion.

  • August 20, 2024

    Epic Will Pay Google $400K For Play Store Contract Breach

    Epic Games has agreed to pay Google around $400,000 for implementing its own payment method in "Fortnite" and getting booted from the Play Store, as the court continues to mull what changes Google will have to make after a jury found that its policies violate antitrust law.

  • August 20, 2024

    'Full Steam Ahead' For Pandemic IG Despite Sunset Fear

    A pandemic watchdog office is poised to shutter in seven months — its pleas for an extension have gone unheeded. But in the meantime, its remaining employees, some working away in their nondescript Alexandria, Virginia, office, others from their homes, are hustling to recover millions of dollars from COVID-19 fraudsters.

  • August 20, 2024

    A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report

    The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.

  • August 20, 2024

    These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships

    The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.

  • August 20, 2024

    Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines Clear DOJ Review Of $1.9B Deal

    Alaska Airlines said Monday that the deadline for the U.S. Department of Justice to complete the review of its planned $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines has expired, paving the way for the closure of the deal after the DOJ's deadline had been extended several times.

  • August 20, 2024

    Broadcasters Fight Blockage Of Sports Streaming Megadeal

    ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have petitioned the Second Circuit to allow their "sports-first" broadcasting service Venu to move ahead while they face antitrust litigation from streamer Fubo, which blocked Venu's launch last week.

  • August 19, 2024

    TPG Dumped Opioid Co. On 'Unsuspecting' Endo, Suit Says

    After pushing Par Pharmaceutical to grow its market share in generic opioids and disregard federal requirements to report suspicious orders, TPG Capital saw other opioid manufacturers being inundated with litigation and sold Par to "an unsuspecting" Endo International PLC, according to a lawsuit filed in New York bankruptcy court.

  • August 19, 2024

    Parents Not Bound By Schools' Arbitration Pact, FTC Argues

    The Federal Trade Commission has stepped into a proposed class action accusing education technology company IXL Learning of unlawfully collecting and selling children's personal information, telling a California federal court that the company's agreement with schools to arbitrate disputes doesn't extend to the parents pressing the data privacy suit.

  • August 19, 2024

    Pilgrim's Pride Agrees To Pay $100M In Chicken Farmers' Suit

    Pilgrim's Pride will pay $100 million to broiler chicken farmers to settle claims it conspired with other competitive chicken producers to suppress farmer compensation, according to the plaintiffs' preliminary approval bid filed Friday in Oklahoma federal court.

  • August 19, 2024

    Frost & Sullivan Shouldn't Beat Data Breach Suit, Judge Says

    A magistrate judge on Monday recommended a Texas federal court trim but not toss a putative class action accusing consulting firm Frost & Sullivan Inc. of failing to protect its employees and clients from a data breach last year, rejecting the firm's contention that a former employee lacked standing to sue.

  • August 19, 2024

    FTC Pushes To Limit Meta's Merger Defenses

    The Federal Trade Commission continues to push the D.C. federal court overseeing its monopoly suit against Meta to slim down the social media titan's defenses ahead of the trial that the Facebook parent company is still hoping won't happen.

  • August 19, 2024

    10 States Join DOJ's Antitrust Case Against Live Nation

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that it has updated the government's case accusing Live Nation of violating antitrust law through its control over the live entertainment industry to add 10 new states and claims for damages.

  • August 19, 2024

    Kroger Flips Script, Challenges FTC's Constitutionality

    Kroger went on the offensive Monday, a week before Oregon federal court proceedings kick off in the Federal Trade Commission's challenge to its purchase of Albertsons, in a lawsuit going after the constitutionality of the agency's in-house court, also set to contest the merger.

  • August 19, 2024

    Justices Urged To Refuse Rent-To-Own Co. Fee Suit

    Two consumers suing a rent-to-own furniture store over fees that are allegedly barred under California law urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday not to review a Ninth Circuit decision nixing the company's arbitration bid, arguing that the case is too fact-specific to warrant the court's attention.

  • August 19, 2024

    9th Circ. Partially Revives State Farm Car Value Class Action

    A split Ninth Circuit panel partially revived a class action accusing State Farm of undervaluing policyholders' totaled vehicles when paying out claims, saying Monday that a Washington federal court abused its discretion in decertifying one of two classes based on a previous Ninth Circuit ruling.

  • August 19, 2024

    FCC Yanks Phone Co.'s Authorization After Getting No Answer

    The Federal Communications Commission says a telecom is no longer allowed to operate in the United States after it failed to live up to the commitments it made to the federal government and then ghosted the agency when it tried to get in touch.

  • August 19, 2024

    BankRI Pans 'Overspending' Customer's Account Fees Suit

    One of Rhode Island's largest banks asked a Providence federal judge on Monday to throw out a proposed class action over its consumer fee practices, saying the customer behind the suit is attempting to blame it for fallout from her own "unfortunate practice of overspending."

Expert Analysis

  • Risks And Promises Of AI In The Financial Services Industry

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    Generative artificial intelligence has immense potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, but firms considering its use should first prepare to show their customers and the increasingly divided international regulatory community that they can manage the risks inherent to the new technology, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Key FCC Enforcement Issues In AT&T Location Data Appeal

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    AT&T’s decision to challenge a $57 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission for its alleged treatment of customer location information highlights interesting and fundamental issues about the constitutionality of FCC enforcement, say Patrick O’Donnell and Jason Neal at HWG.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • What To Know As CFPB Late Fee Rule Hangs In Limbo

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    Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final credit card late fee rule faces an uncertain future due to litigation involving injunctions, emergency petitions and now a venue dispute, card issuers must understand how to navigate the interim period and what to do if the rule takes effect, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • A Deep Dive Into The Evolving World Of ESG Ratings

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    Attorneys at Mintz discuss the salience of environmental, social and governance ratings in corporate circles in recent years, and consider certain methodologies underlying their calculation for professionals, as well as issues concerning the ESG ratings and products themselves.

  • What TikTok's Race Against The Clock Teaches Chinese Firms

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    The Biden administration's recent divestiture deadline on TikTok parent ByteDance provides useful information for other China-based companies looking to do business in the U.S., including the need to keep products for each market separate and implement firewalls at the design stage, says Richard Lomuscio at Stinson.

  • Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs

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    The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • Unlocking Blockchain Opportunities Amid Legal Uncertainty

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    Dozens of laws and legal precedents will come into the fore as Web3, metaverse and non-fungible tokens gain momentum, so organizations need to design their programs with a broader view of potential exposures — and opportunities, say Teresa Goody Guillén and Robert Musiala at BakerHostetler and Steve McNew at FTI Consulting.

  • 4 Ways Businesses Can Address Threat Of Mass Arbitration

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    Attorneys at DLA Piper examine the rise of mass arbitration in light of JAMS' new procedures and guidelines, and provide four steps e-commerce businesses can take when revising their dispute resolution provisions to maximize the chances those revisions will be held enforceable.

  • The Uncertain Scope Of The First Financial Fair Access Laws

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    With Florida and Tennessee soon to roll out laws banning financial institutions from making decisions based on customer traits like political affiliation, national financial services providers should consider how broadly worded “fair access” laws from these and other conservative-leaning states may place new obligations on their business operations, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Live Nation May Shake It Off In A Long Game With The DOJ

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    Don't expect a swift resolution in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against Live Nation, but a long litigation, with the company likely to represent itself as the creator of a competitive ecosystem, and the government faced with explaining how the ticketing giant formed under its watch, say Thomas Kliebhan and Taylor Hixon at GRSM50.

  • Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture

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    In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.

  • Debate Over CFPB Definition Of Credit Is Just Beginning

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently worked to expand the meaning of credit, so anyone operating on the edges of the credit markets, or even those who assumed they were safely outside the scope of this regulatory perimeter, should pay close attention as legal challenges to broad interpretations of the definition unfold, says John Coleman at Orrick.

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