Consumer Protection

  • September 27, 2024

    'So What?': OnlyFans' Dismissal Bid Faces Skeptical Judge

    A San Francisco federal judge indicated Friday that he won't dismiss a proposed class action against OnlyFans' parent company alleging the video platform dupes customers into automatically renewing their subscriptions, waving away arguments that a Los Angeles federal judge dismissed a similar suit and asking its lawyers, "So what?"

  • September 27, 2024

    Bread's Banks Fork Over $2M To FDIC Over Rewards Issue

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has fined Bread Financial's Comenity bank units a total of $2 million as part of a pair of consent orders made public Friday that resolve unfair practices claims tied to their rewards programs and automatic payments processing.

  • September 27, 2024

    FCC Chief Quotes Taylor Swift In Tough Stance On Deepfakes

    Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vowed during a speech Friday to take a strong position on enforcing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against AI-generated robocalls and noted the FCC is considering new AI election-related disclosure regulations, quoting pop singer Taylor Swift who said, "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."

  • September 27, 2024

    Fla. Timeshare Biz Wins $1.3M Fee Award In False Ad Suit

    A Florida federal judge has awarded more than $1.3 million in attorney fees to a timeshare company that prevailed in a lawsuit against a Wyoming company over a false advertising scheme encouraging customers to stop paying for their properties, after agreeing the marketers pursued an "exceptionally weak case" that would not succeed.

  • September 27, 2024

    Claims Trimmed In Delaware Jeep Hybrid Defect Class Action

    A Delaware federal judge threw out a number of claims Friday from a proposed class action against automaker FCA US LLC alleging it sold Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid vehicles with a defective feature that renders electric driving unavailable, adopting the bulk of a magistrate judge's report filed in July.

  • September 27, 2024

    SEC Fines Firms, Sues Ex-Reps' Over Cherry-Picking Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that Illinois-based Cetera Investment Advisers LLC and formerly California-based First Allied Advisory Services Inc. have each agreed to pay $200,000 to settle claims that two investment advisers formerly associated with both firms ran separate, multiyear, cherry-picking schemes that harmed investors.

  • September 27, 2024

    Banks Beat Credit Line Disclosure Suit After CFPB Weighs In

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action accusing two Midwestern banks of failing to provide required repayment disclosures to borrowers, agreeing with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that these disclosures aren't actually required for the type of account at issue.

  • September 27, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Stem Cell Treatment Not Exempt From FDA Rule

    Two California clinics' experimental stem cell treatments are "drugs" subject to Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act regulations, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday, reviving the federal government's bid to stop the clinic from marketing the products as cures for certain diseases without U.S. Food and Drug Administration review.

  • September 27, 2024

    Meta's Password Storage Flub Draws €91M Irish Fine

    Ireland's data protection authority has hit Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. with a €91 million ($101.5 million) penalty for allegedly storing users' passwords without encryption or other necessary safeguards, the regulator announced Friday. 

  • September 27, 2024

    FTX Users Say Binance Manipulated Market To Spark Collapse

    Users of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX told a Florida federal judge that social media posts by competing exchange Binance still manipulated markets to cause the collapse of FTX and harm users even if the statements themselves weren't false.

  • September 27, 2024

    Disney Wants FuboTV Tying Suit Tossed Before Trial

    Disney told a New York federal judge Thursday that FuboTV in its tying claims against the programming giant still hasn't shown how Disney's bundling practice is out of the ordinary, saying that similar bundles have existed for years and have been cleared by the courts and the Federal Communications Commision.

  • September 27, 2024

    RealPage Wants DOJ Antitrust Case Moved To Tennessee

    RealPage has asked a North Carolina federal court to transfer the government's antitrust case against it to Tennessee, where private litigation has been playing out over claims the software company helps residential landlords fix rental prices.

  • September 27, 2024

    Hemp Org., Cheech & Chong Take Aim At New Calif. THC Ban

    A leading hemp industry trade organization has teamed up with the cannabis brand fronted by stoner comedians Cheech and Chong to challenge new emergency regulations in California that ban the sale of hemp products containing the psychoactive cannabinoid THC.

  • September 27, 2024

    Why Many Drugs Remain Pricey 40 Years After Hatch-Waxman

    In the four decades since Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act in an effort to make generic drugs more available, the pharmaceutical industry has used patent thickets, "evergreening" and pay-for-delay tactics to block competition and keep prices of life-saving specialty drugs astronomical, several legal experts told Law360, while the industry argues other parties shoulder more of the blame.

  • September 27, 2024

    FCC Chief Says Chevron's Fall Won't Slow Needed Regs

    Upcoming Federal Communications Commission rules are likely to survive judicial scrutiny even after the Chevron doctrine's demise because the policies are grounded on not only legal analysis but in-depth economic and engineering studies, the agency's chief said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    L'Oréal Can't Turn Off Try-On Tool BIPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday refused to dismiss a proposed class action accusing L'Oréal USA of violating Illinois' biometric privacy law with its virtual try-on tool, saying the beauty giant failed to give the plaintiff constructive notice of its arbitration terms and that she'd done enough at this stage to plausibly allege it collected her biometric identifiers.

  • September 27, 2024

    GM, LG Get Go-Ahead On $150M EV Battery Settlement

    A Michigan federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors LLC sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with faulty batteries made by LG units, finding the deal to be fair and reasonable in resolving the claims.

  • September 27, 2024

    FCC's Latest Subsidy Fees Disputed Again In 5th Circ.

    A free-market litigation group has filed another challenge in the Fifth Circuit to the Federal Communications Commission's quarterly calculation of fees to support an array of telecom subsidy programs.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ga. Hospital Patients Ask Judge to Revive Facebook Data Suit

    A proposed class of patients claiming Piedmont Healthcare Inc. unlawfully shared their confidential health data with Facebook urged a federal judge to rethink his late-August decision tossing their suit, saying the judge failed to consider their claims the health system criminally violated HIPAA's privacy rule. 

  • September 27, 2024

    NY Court Won't Transfer DOJ's Live Nation Antitrust Case

    The New York federal judge overseeing the government's antitrust case against Live Nation said Friday he will not transfer the action to Washington, D.C., where a court handled a settlement clearing the concert promotion giant's 2010 purchase of Ticketmaster.

  • September 27, 2024

    Insurer Says No Coverage For Conn. Firm's Data Breach

    A Connecticut personal injury firm's insurance company says it won't foot the bill for claims stemming from a hacker breaking into the firm's email system and stealing over $750,000 from a client, saying the firm's professional liability policy excluded "cyber security events."

  • September 27, 2024

    'No Question' Google Faces Ad Tech Competition, Judge Says

    The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement technology signaled potential trouble for the Justice Department on Friday, during a dramatic last day of the bench trial where she suggested the market is as competitive as the search giant maintains.

  • September 27, 2024

    TelexFree Victims Say Payment Processor Lost Key Emails

    Victims of the multibillion-dollar TelexFree Ponzi scheme said a payment processor's loss of critical emails and other files related to the ploy amounts to a "blatant coverup" to hide evidence that would have otherwise bolstered their case against the company.

  • September 27, 2024

    Philip Morris Says Nicotine Pouch Suit Is Preempted

    Philip Morris International Inc. and a subsidiary are urging a Connecticut federal judge to throw out claims that they falsely advertised nicotine pouches as safe and healthy and marketed them to adolescents, saying the claims are preempted by federal law.

  • September 27, 2024

    EPA, Ohio Refinery Ink $169M Wastewater Cleanup Deal

    A Cenovus Energy unit has reached a $169 million deal to resolve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's complaint over pollution from a petroleum refinery in Lima, Ohio, the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA announced Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Concerns To Confront In FDIC Brokered Deposit Proposal

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    Banks and fintech companies should note several fundamental issues with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to widen how it classifies brokered deposits, an attempt to limit prudential risk that could expose the industry and underbanked consumers who rely on bank-fintech apps to widespread unintended consequences, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • 4 Steps To Address New Sanctions Time Bar Extension

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    Recent guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control clarifies details of the newly extended statute of limitations for civil and criminal enforcement of U.S. sanctions law, so compliance teams should implement key updates, including to lookback periods and recordkeeping policies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • What To Expect From CFPB And DOT Card Rewards Inquiry

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    Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement of joint efforts with the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate credit card rewards points, credit card issuers and airlines should keep a close eye on potential regulatory and class action litigation risks stemming from the inquiry, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Remedy May Be Google's Biggest Hurdle Yet In Antitrust Case

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    There are difficulties ahead in the remedies phase of the antitrust case against Google in District of Columbia federal court, including the search engine giant's scale advantage and the fast-moving nature of the tech industry, setting the stage for the most challenging of the proceedings so far, says Jonathan Rubin at MoginRubin.

  • 3 Ways To Limit Risks Of Black-Box AI In Financial Services

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    As regulators increasingly highlight the potential for artificial intelligence to make unfair consumer credit decisions, and require financial institutions to explain how these so-called black-box algorithms arrive at conclusions, companies should consider three key questions to reduce their regulatory risks from these tools, say Jeffrey Naimon and Caroline Stapleton at Orrick.

  • Takeaways From EU's 'Pay Or Consent' Advertising Probe

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    Anne-Gabrielle Haie and Charles Whiddington at Steptoe examine key points from the European Commission's recent investigation into Big Tech's use of "pay or consent" advertising models, as well as the European Data Protection Board’s opinion on how such models can comply with EU competition and data protection laws.

  • When Banks Unknowingly Become HIPAA Biz Associates

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    There appears to be significant confusion regarding the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to financial institutions when serving healthcare-related clients, so these institutions should consider undertaking several steps as a starting point in the effort to achieve compliance, say attorneys at Vorys.

  • From Muppet Heads To OJ's Glove: How To Use Props At Trial

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    Demonstrative graphics have become so commonplace in the courtroom that jurors may start to find them boring, but attorneys can keep jurors engaged and improve their recall by effectively using physical props at trial, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opting In To CIPA Risk Mitigation After New Precedent

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    A recent California federal court decision, adopting a new, broad interpretation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, will likely increase the volume of CIPA claims and should prompt businesses to undertake certain preventative measures, including adopting an opt-in approach to using third-party website advertising technologies, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • CFPB's Earned Wage Access Rule Marks Regulatory Shift

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's newly issued interpretive rule on earned wage access products, classifying them as extensions of credit, marks a significant shift in their regulatory landscape and raises some important questions regarding potential fringe cases and legal challenges, say Erin Bryan and Courina Yulisa at Dorsey & Whitney.

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