Consumer Protection

  • October 02, 2024

    Wi-Fi Has All The Spectrum It Needs, Mobile Group Says

    Wi-Fi performance gains won't come from more unlicensed spectrum use, a new report commissioned by telecommunications trade group CTIA said Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    CFPB's $5M Student Loan Deal Gets OK Over PIMCO Objections

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has finalized a proposed $5 million settlement of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau case that alleged pandemic-era servicing failures involving securitized student loans, overruling objections that money manager PIMCO raised on behalf of loan investors.

  • October 02, 2024

    2nd Circ. Won't Nix Amazon Awards Against Chinese Sellers

    A pair of Chinese third-party sellers were unable to convince the Second Circuit to vacate arbitral awards favoring Amazon after the sellers allegedly bribed customers for positive reviews, with the appeals court rejecting their argument that the arbitrators manifestly disregarded the law.

  • October 02, 2024

    Pfizer Didn't Warn Of Tumor Risks In Depo-Provera, Suit Says

    Pfizer Inc. faces a product liability and negligence suit filed Tuesday in California federal court alleging it distributed the hormonal contraceptive drug Depo-Provera without adequately warning patients and doctors about the risk of brain tumors associated with its use, a danger that has been widely published in scientific journals for years.

  • October 02, 2024

    Gordon Rees Atty Asks Judge To Rethink Malpractice Ruling

    A Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney urged a Washington state court to reconsider a recent ruling denying the dismissal of legal malpractice claims brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer, saying the assignment and subrogation of professional liability claims is improper.

  • October 02, 2024

    Hyundai, Kia Drivers' $145M Car-Theft Deal Wins Final OK

    A California federal judge has signed off on a $145 million settlement that closes out consolidated consumer claims alleging Hyundai and Kia knowingly sold defective vehicles with design flaws that spawned a car-theft crime wave following a viral TikTok trend that popularized tips for breaking into their cars.

  • October 02, 2024

    Colo. Judge Sees No Injuries In Health Data Breach Class Suit

    A Colorado federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action alleging a software company waited nearly three months to tell data breach victims about hackers accessing personal and medical information for more than 250,000 people, concluding the plaintiffs' allegations weren't enough to give them standing.

  • October 02, 2024

    Ex-PBM Worker Says He Bribed Co-Workers In $160M Fraud

    A former employee of a pharmacy benefit manager told a Texas federal jury on Wednesday that he accepted more than $180,000 in bribes over five years from a Houston man accused of running a multimillion-dollar healthcare fraud, testifying that he would often accept money to bribe his co-workers with.

  • October 02, 2024

    Top 3 Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates more than 100 times in September on the FCC's effort to clamp down on scam robocalls, rules to spur broadband deployment, revamping the 4.9 gigahertz airwaves, satellite spectrum and more.

  • October 02, 2024

    This Is L Can't Toss Tampon Misleading Labeling Suit

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday declined to toss a suit alleging that This Is L. Inc. misleads consumers by advertising its tampons as having no "chlorine bleaching, dyes or fragrances" when it includes a pigment.

  • October 02, 2024

    Steph Curry Card Suit Can Proceed, Texas Judge Rules

    Sports card grader Beckett Collectibles LLC must face a negligent misrepresentation lawsuit alleging it gave an unwarranted "9.5 gem mint" rating to a Steph Curry basketball card that had actually been altered and was later purchased for $168,000, a Texas federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    3rd Firearms Co. Settles Conn. AG's 'Ghost Gun' Suit

    Another firearm firm has settled with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong to resolve his claims it was selling "ghost gun" components unlawfully in a deal that involves the company dissolving itself, handing over its web domain and deleting all of its social media, Tong announced Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    GM Must Face Auto Part Co.'s Raid Conspiracy Counterclaim

    General Motors can't slip an aftermarket car parts company's accusation that the auto giant was behind a government raid of its warehouses, a Michigan federal judge ruled Tuesday, allowing two of Quality Collision's counterclaims in a GM-filed patent infringement suit to stand.

  • October 02, 2024

    TikTok Can't End Browser Privacy MDL

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday held TikTok and parent company ByteDance to multidistrict litigation in which users claim the video platform's in-app browser illegally tracks activity on third-party sites, and gave the plaintiffs a chance to replead one claim under California law.

  • October 02, 2024

    Supplement Co. Hits Back At TM Suit, Alleges Fake Reviews

    Supplement-maker Nutranext Business LLC failed to disclose that a doctor promoting its products is a paid influence, artificially inflated its positive reviews on Amazon and misrepresented a study that purports to show the benefits of using its products, according to new counterclaims filed by a competitor it sued for trademark infringement.

  • October 02, 2024

    Wells Fargo, AAA Misrepresent Arbitration Process, Suit Says

    Wells Fargo and the American Arbitration Association have been hit with a proposed class action accusing them of colluding to fraudulently induce consumers into accepting a fundamentally unfair arbitration process, thereby giving up their right to litigate claims over allegedly unfair overdraft fees.

  • October 02, 2024

    ExecuPharm Agrees To Pay Ransomware Victims $10K Each

    U.S. pharmaceutical giant ExecuPharm will pay victims of a data breach up to $10,000 in reimbursements, compensation for lost time, three years of credit monitoring, and $675,000 in attorney fees after a Pennsylvania federal judge gave his final approval to a class action settlement.

  • October 02, 2024

    Tesla Sued By Driver Shocked At NJ Charging Station

    A Garden State woman alleged that a design defect in the Tesla Supercharger caused her to be shocked while attempting to unplug her Tesla from a charging station at a southern New Jersey shopping center, according to a suit filed in New Jersey state court.

  • October 02, 2024

    SEC's Top Cop Departing After Record-Breaking Tenure

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that enforcement director Gurbir Grewal will be leaving the agency next week following a three-year tenure, during which the agency brought in record penalties and frequently clashed with crypto industry participants objecting to a string of lawsuits brought under Grewal's leadership.

  • October 02, 2024

    Conn. Receiver Gains Access To Apt. Co-Op's BofA Accounts

    Bank of America agreed to provide a court-appointed receiver with access to a distressed housing cooperative's bank accounts Wednesday amid efforts by the municipalities of Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, to obtain a court order.

  • October 01, 2024

    CFPB Warns On Collecting 'Invalid,' Unverified Medical Debt

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday cautioned debt collectors about significant potential compliance risks when working in the medical debt market, issuing guidance that identified a number of practices as illegal and capable of triggering "strict liability" under federal law.

  • October 01, 2024

    Jefferson Health Can't Ditch Suit Over Meta Data Sharing

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to toss a proposed class action accusing Jefferson Health of unlawfully sharing patients' confidential health information with Meta Platforms Inc., finding that the plaintiffs had cured prior deficiencies to adequately support their wiretap and privacy claims.

  • October 01, 2024

    From AI To Enviro: The Top Biz Bills Calif. Gov. Inked Into Law

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed hundreds of bills into law ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline, meaning major changes are on the horizon for employers, tech companies, healthcare providers and others doing business in the Golden State.

  • October 01, 2024

    Data Brokers Decry 'Ill-Tailored' NJ Judicial Privacy Law

    Data brokers such as Equifax, Thomson Reuters and Zillow urged a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to toss a suit accusing them of violating Daniel's Law, arguing the state's judicial privacy measure is unconstitutionally broad and unevenly applied. 

  • October 01, 2024

    Lyft Beats NY Wheelchair Access, Disability Bias Class Action

    A New York federal judge on Monday threw out a long-running class action alleging that Lyft fails to offer adequate wheelchair-accessible vehicle options for riders in the vast majority of its service regions, finding that the plaintiffs' proposed modifications for increasing accessibility aren't reasonable.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Credibility Lessons Trial Attys Can Learn From Harris' Run

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    In launching a late-stage campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris must seize upon fresh attention from voters to establish, or reestablish, credibility — a challenge that parallels and provides takeaways for trial attorneys, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Opinion

    A Fuzzy Label With Bite: FTC Must Define Surveillance Pricing

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, McKinsey and Chase — seeking information on "surveillance pricing," but the order doesn't explain the term or make the distinction between legal and illegal practices, leaving any company that uses personalized pricing in the dark, says Chris Wlach at Huge.

  • Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools

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    A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Opinion

    Big Oil Climate Ruling Sets Dangerous Liability Precedent

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    The recent Maryland court dismissal of Baltimore's case seeking to hold BP responsible for climate damage mischaracterized the city's injuries as divorced from the conduct that caused them, and could allow companies that conceal the dangers of their products to escape liability, says Randall Abate at George Washington University Law School.

  • DOJ Must Overcome Hurdles In RealPage Antitrust Case

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent claims that RealPage's pricing software violates the Sherman Act mark a creative, and apparently contradictory, shift in the agency's approach to algorithmic price-fixing that will face several key challenges, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • What To Know About CFPB Stance On Confidentiality Terms

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    A recent circular from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represents a growing effort across government agencies to address overbroad confidentiality agreements, and gives employers insight into the bureau's perspective on the issue as it relates to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, say Holly Williamson and Elizabeth King at Hunton.

  • 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.

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