Consumer Protection

  • October 04, 2024

    EU High Court Says Meta Must Limit Data Used To Target Ads

    The European Court of Justice ruled Friday that the bloc's data protection rules prohibit Meta's Facebook and other social media platforms from using all the personal data they've ever collected to fuel their targeted advertising, handing Austrian activist Max Schrems a win in his latest fight against the tech giant.

  • October 04, 2024

    JPML Agrees To Combine Snowflake, AT&T Data Breach MDLs

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Friday centralized a slew of cases stemming from high-profile data breaches affecting customers of the Snowflake Inc. cloud platform in the District of Montana, a transfer order that includes sprawling multidistrict litigation against AT&T, one of Snowflake's customers.

  • October 04, 2024

    Attys Tried To Coerce Client For Larger Fee, Texas Court Rules

    A Texas appeals court found that two attorneys tried to finagle a higher fee out of their client by threatening her with a lawsuit if she didn't fork over a larger amount than was specified in their contract, with the three-judge panel overruling all the attorneys' issues.

  • October 04, 2024

    Evolve Bank Faces MDL Over Breach Of 7.6M Customers' Data

    Nearly two dozen proposed class actions accusing Evolve Bank & Trust of failing to adequately protect the personal information of 7.6 million customers from a cyberattack by a Russia-linked cybercrime gang will be centralized in Tennessee, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has ruled, expressing their confidence in the judge selected to preside over the MDL.

  • October 04, 2024

    Thrivent Unit Pays SEC Fine Over Alleged Reg BI Lapses

    Thrivent Investment Management Inc. has settled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations that it violated Regulation Best Interest when recommending certain investments to customers enrolled in college savings plans when lower-priced options were available.

  • October 04, 2024

    Subaru Drivers Get Initial OK On Cracked Windshields Deal

    A class of at least a million Subaru customers received preliminary blessing from a New Jersey magistrate judge for a settlement that would end the five-year dispute and cover 100% or more out-of-pocket costs to fix or replace allegedly defective windshields that spontaneously cracked.

  • October 04, 2024

    Antitrust Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Revive Price-Fixing Suit

    Three antitrust advocacy groups asked the Ninth Circuit to resuscitate a proposed class action accusing several hotel operators and two software companies in Nevada federal court of engaging in a price-fixing scheme involving algorithmic software.

  • October 04, 2024

    State Fair Case Creates Tension For Gun And Property Rights

    The State Fair of Texas kicked off a week ago with its usual offerings of splashing neon and deep-fried Oreos, but with its opening the fair has become the center of a legal question the Texas Supreme Court may have difficulty wrangling as it seeks to sort out the tension between the rights of gun owners and property owners.

  • October 04, 2024

    Meta Investors Seek Sanctions Over Execs' Deleted Emails

    Meta Platforms Inc. shareholders suing over the Facebook Cambridge Analytica data scandal urged a Delaware Chancery Court Thursday to sanction Meta board members Jeffrey Zients and Sheryl Sandberg for allegedly spoiling evidence by using their personal email accounts to discuss the scandal and then deleting large portions of their correspondence.

  • October 04, 2024

    11th Circ. Sends Tribal Loan Dispute Back For Arbitration

    An Eleventh Circuit panel has reversed and remanded a lower court's ruling that a Tampa-based consumer collection company cannot compel arbitration in a bid seeking payment on a tribally owned firm's loans, arguing provisions of the agreements require such proceedings under tribal and federal law.

  • October 04, 2024

    Coinbase To Limit Stablecoins That Don't Meet New EU Rules

    Crypto exchange Coinbase said Friday that it plans to delist certain stable-value tokens for users in the European Union if the tokens don't meet soon-to-be-effective guidelines under the jurisdiction's crypto regime.

  • October 04, 2024

    Tractor Fluid MDL's $32M Settlement To Move Forward

    A Missouri federal judge has given the go-ahead to a $32 million settlement between tractor owners and a pair of hydraulic fluid makers to resolve claims in multidistrict litigation alleging the fluid was defective and damaged vehicles that used it.

  • October 04, 2024

    Hemp Org, Cheech & Chong Seek Halt Of Calif. Hemp Ban

    A leading hemp industry trade organization, along with the cannabis brand fronted by stoner comedians Cheech & Chong, have asked a Los Angeles state judge to halt enforcement of new California emergency regulations banning the sale of hemp products with THC.

  • October 04, 2024

    FCC Aims To Open More 6 GHz To Very Low Power Devices

    The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it wants to clear two more portions of the 6 gigahertz spectrum band for very low power unlicensed devices, like virtual reality gear, while still protecting licensed incumbents that use the same swath of airwaves.

  • October 04, 2024

    EPA Finalizes Stronger Pesticide Rules For Farmworker Safety

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule strengthening protections for agricultural workers who could be exposed to pesticides, standards that had been weakened by the Trump administration.

  • October 04, 2024

    Tempur Sealy, Mattress Firm Sue To Block FTC Merger Case

    Tempur Sealy International Inc. and Mattress Firm Group Inc. told a Texas federal court on Friday that the Federal Trade Commission's in-house process violates the Constitution, so the agency's case challenging their planned $4 billion merger should be blocked.

  • October 04, 2024

    Albertsons Inks $3.9M Overcharge Deal With Calif. DAs

    Albertsons and its affiliate companies have agreed to pay $3.9 million to settle a civil enforcement action accusing them of bilking shoppers by charging higher prices for grocery items than what was advertised, according to an announcement made by several California district attorneys. 

  • October 04, 2024

    Epic Doubts Apple's Privilege Assertions In Antitrust Fight

    Epic Games told a California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in its antitrust compliance fight with Apple on Friday that it's concerned Apple has wrongly asserted privilege in more than half the documents it has declined to produce, while adding "we don't want to spend months here duking this out."

  • October 04, 2024

    Up First At High Court: Civil Rights, Ghost Guns, Atty Fees

    The U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes Monday to start a brand-new term, with the justices first hearing arguments related to prerequisites for litigating federal rights in state courts, ghost gun regulations, and whether a death row inmate is entitled to a new trial after a state admits that prosecutorial misconduct might have led to his conviction.

  • October 04, 2024

    Judge Says Live Nation Case Runs Deeper Than Merger Pact

    In refusing to transfer the government's monopolization case against Live Nation, a New York federal judge said the settlement allowing the company's 2010 merger with Ticketmaster dealt only with potential problems that existed at the time and has no bearing on the new claims.

  • October 04, 2024

    NY Appeals Court Won't Trim Sex Abuse Coverage Dispute

    A New York state appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling declining to dismiss The Rockefeller University's claims that its insurers acted in bad faith and conducted deceptive trade practices while handling the university's coverage request for underlying allegations of sexual abuse.

  • October 04, 2024

    Northern Ireland Police Service Fined £750K Over Data Breach

    The United Kingdom's data protection watchdog has issued a £750,000 ($988,000) fine to Northern Ireland's police service after it exposed the personal information of all its 9,483 officers and staff as part of a freedom of information request gone wrong.

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court Takes Up E-Cig 'Forum Shopping' Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that allowed out-of-circuit e-cigarette manufacturers to seek judicial review before the New Orleans-based court so long as the petition is joined by a seller located in the circuit.

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court Will Hear TCPA Case Over Online Junk Faxes

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will review whether district courts must follow a Federal Communications Commission ruling that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act does not prohibit junk faxes that are received only via electronic inboxes.

  • October 03, 2024

    Biden Admin's Latest Debt Relief Plan Blocked In Missouri

    A Missouri federal judge Thursday blocked the Biden administration's latest student debt relief proposal, finding that the six Republican-led states leading the challenge will likely show the plan is unlawful, just a day after a Georgia federal judge knocked the Peach State out and punted the case to St. Louis.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    3rd. Circ. Got It Right On Cancer Warning Claims Preemption

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    The Third Circuit's recent, eminently sensible ruling in a failure-to-warn case against Roundup manufacturer Monsanto, holding that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act preempts state law claims, provides a road map that other courts should adopt, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions

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    Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.

  • 5 Ways To Confront Courtroom Technology Challenges

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    Recent cybersecurity incidents highlight the vulnerabilities of our reliance on digital infrastructure, meaning attorneys must be prepared to navigate technological obstacles inside the courtroom, including those related to data security, presentation hardware, video playback and more, says Adam Bloomberg at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Navigating New Enforcement Scrutiny Of 'AI Washing'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent lawsuit against Joonko Diversity, its first public AI-focused enforcement action against a private company, underscores the importance of applying the same internal legal and compliance rigor to AI-related claims as other market-facing statements, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Employer Arbitration Lessons From Calif. Consumer Ruling

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    Although a California state appeals court’s recent arbitration ruling in Mahram v. Kroger involved a consumer transaction, the finding that the arbitration agreement at issue did not apply to a third-party beneficiary could influence how employment arbitration agreements are interpreted, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor Law.

  • Unpacking Jurisdiction Issues In 3rd Circ. Arbitration Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent ruling in George v. Rushmore Service Center could be interpreted to establish three principles regarding district courts' jurisdiction to enter arbitration-related orders under the Federal Arbitration Act, two of which may lead to confusion, says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • 'Pig Butchering': The Scam That Exploits Crypto Confusion

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    Certain red flags can tip off banks to possible "pig-butchering," and with the scam's increasing popularity, financial institutions need to take action to monitor entry points into the crypto space, detect suspicious activity and provide a necessary backstop to protect customers, say Brandon Essig and Mary Parrish McCracken at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Opinion

    Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation

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    The increased regulatory scrutiny on corporate victims of cyberattacks — exemplified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against SolarWinds — should be replaced with a new model that provides adequate incentives for companies to come forward proactively and collaborate with law enforcement, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • How Transaction Lookbacks Can Guide Fintech Companies

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    As transaction lookbacks continue to be a key focus of enforcement actions, newer financial institutions like fintech companies should know they can benefit from proactively investigating their potential failure to identify suspicious activity, creating a compliance road map and building trust with regulators in the process, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • Opinion

    CFPB's AI Stance Backslides On Innovation Issues

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent response to a Treasury Department's request for information about artificial intelligence in the financial services sector uses alarmist rhetoric about the technology's risks, ceding an opportunity to help shape this important discussion, says Mike Silver at Husch Blackwell.

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