Consumer Protection

  • December 16, 2024

    What's A Major Question? It's Untested, Telecom Attys Say

    More than two years since the U.S. Supreme Court solidified its "major questions" doctrine holding that federal agencies can't take on matters of significant public impact without direction from Congress, telecom lawyers are still debating how the justices' action could affect some big-ticket controversies in the industry.

  • December 16, 2024

    Justices Won't Hear 3rd Circ. CFPB Student Loan Trust Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it would leave in place a lower court decision allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to sue securitization trusts over their servicers' treatment of borrowers, declining to take up a challenge to the scope of the agency's enforcement authority.

  • December 16, 2024

    Justices Won't Review NY Cap On Broadband Rates

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a split Second Circuit ruling upholding New York's $15 cap on the amount broadband companies can charge low-income households for high-speed internet service plans.

  • December 16, 2024

    Justices Pass On TCPA Case Over Fax Promoting Webinar

    The nation's top court on Monday declined to take up a healthcare technology company's appeal seeking to stave off a proposed class action accusing it of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending faxes about a free webinar.

  • December 13, 2024

    Apple Can't Drag Out Privilege Claims Re-Review, Judge Says

    A California federal magistrate judge on Friday rejected Apple's argument that Apple and Epic Games should agree on a document-review protocol before Apple re-reviews 57,000 documents it claims are attorney-client privileged in their antitrust fight, telling Apple's counsel such a process would likely drag out litigation without being useful.

  • December 13, 2024

    NHTSA Publishes Whistleblower Program Final Rule

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized its whistleblower program, which could award as much as 30% of monetary sanctions to a worker of an auto manufacturer who calls out bad behavior.

  • December 13, 2024

    IoT Trade Group Opposes Geolocation Plan At FCC

    A trade group that advocates for the development of the Internet of Things is not a fan of a geolocation company's plan to license a chunk of the lower 900 megahertz to launch a network that will provide mobile broadband and back up the Global Positioning System.

  • December 13, 2024

    DC Circ. Declines To Disturb Law That Could Ban TikTok

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected TikTok's request for a preliminary injunction delaying implementation of a law requiring the app to split with its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. or face a nationwide ban, saying that TikTok wants to block "the enforcement of a presumptively valid act of Congress."

  • December 13, 2024

    Duke Energy Accused Of Negligence Ahead Of Data Breach

    Duke Energy Carolinas LLC failed to protect sensitive personal information ahead of a data breach in May, and now its current and former customers are at risk of identity theft and tax fraud, according to a proposed federal class action.

  • December 13, 2024

    FCC Says It Won't Look At Telecom's SIM Card Beef Again

    The FCC isn't going to rethink its contention that it has no say over a Haitian mobile carrier's decision to deactivate a bunch of SIM cards that were brought into the United States to trick the carrier into thinking calls from the U.S. were coming from the Caribbean country.

  • December 13, 2024

    EPA Mandates More Worker Safety For Carbon Tetrachloride

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule this week on carbon tetrachloride exposure, requiring "robust" employee safety planning on worksites but continuing to allow for its use as a feedstock for refrigerants.

  • December 13, 2024

    Mass. Law Wipes Out Pandemic Tuition Case Against Tufts

    Tufts University on Friday defeated a putative class action seeking tuition refunds for pandemic closures of the Boston-area school's campus, as a Massachusetts federal judge upheld a state law providing immunity to colleges that shut their doors during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • December 13, 2024

    Sexual Abuse, Price-Gouging Bills Clear Michigan Senate

    Michigan state senators passed a flurry of bills during a marathon session ending early Friday morning, including legislation giving sexual assault victims more time to file lawsuits, strengthening protections against price-gouging and expanding polluter liability.

  • December 13, 2024

    Lawmakers Press Tech Giants As TikTok D-Day Looms

    A pair of lawmakers on Friday leaned on TikTok to ensure it meets a Jan. 19 deadline to sell its operations or face a U.S. ban, while also pressing tech giants Apple and Google to be prepared to deplatform the video-sharing app if it refuses to sell.

  • December 13, 2024

    McKinsey To Pay $650M For Work With Opioid Maker Purdue

    Consulting giant McKinsey & Co. will pay $650 million to resolve charges related to its work helping Purdue Pharma market and boost sales of OxyContin, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

  • December 12, 2024

    Align Tech's $27.5M Antitrust Deal Hits Nerve With Judge

    A California federal judge said Thursday that a proposed $27.5 million deal for teeth-aligner buyers to resolve antitrust claims alleging Align Technologies Inc. colluded with the now-bankrupt SmileDirectClub to illegally restrict competition might be "inherently improper" due to a coupon component that "would bring additional business to the monopolist."

  • December 12, 2024

    Sens. Say Bipartisan Efforts Possible For Telecom In 2025

    Key lawmakers who work on telecom policy suggested Thursday that Capitol Hill could come together in a bipartisan way next year to tackle some important issues left outstanding from the Biden era, including permitting reform to spur broadband expansion.

  • December 12, 2024

    9th Circ. Ruling Could Tank Gerber Baby Food False Ad Suit

    A California federal judge weighing whether to toss a Bay Area mother's proposed class action accusing Gerber of deceptively claiming health benefits on its labeling for pureed baby and toddler food pouch products said Thursday that a recent Ninth Circuit decision in a similar case against Sprout Foods might doom the fraud claims against Gerber.

  • December 12, 2024

    Keller Postman Sues Jenner & Block In Escalating Tubi Fight

    Keller Postman LLC added a new front Wednesday to its heated legal fight with Jenner & Block LLP, filing a California state court lawsuit accusing the BigLaw firm of employing a host of unethical tactics to gain leverage in mass arbitration against the streaming service Tubi.

  • December 12, 2024

    DOJ Seizes Rydox Cybercrime Site, Charges Administrators

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging two Kosovo citizens who ran the illicit website Rydox with multiple criminal counts after the U.S. government seized the website, which has been used by cybercriminals to buy and sell thousands of Americans' personal information and dating profiles.

  • December 12, 2024

    Electric Co-Ops Oppose Proposed FCC Customer Service Regs

    The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is adding its name to the list of those who think the Federal Communications Commission's plan to impose new rules surrounding customer service is a bad idea.

  • December 12, 2024

    Koch Foods Demands $178K For 'Burdensome' Subpoena

    Koch Foods has become the latest nonparty to an antitrust fight between Tyson Foods and a poultry rendering company to try to recover a six-figure legal bill from the latter company, after Koch said it was forced to comply with a "broad and ambiguous subpoena" for its communications with Tyson.

  • December 12, 2024

    Texas AG Targets Instagram, Reddit Over Youth Data Security

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his office is looking into minors' privacy and safety policies of more than a dozen tech companies, including Character.AI, Reddit and Instagram, as part of his long-running campaign to stop companies from selling minors' personal information without permission from their parents.

  • December 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Leans Toward BofA In Pandemic Market Loss Bout

    The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether Bank of America had a duty to try harder to stop one of its clients from dumping his investments when the market tanked at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but at arguments Thursday morning, the panel did not seem to think so.

  • December 12, 2024

    Restaurants Latest To Accuse Potato Cartel Of Price-Fixing

    A group of restaurants on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in Illinois federal court accusing the four largest potato processors of forming a cartel to fix the prices of French fries, tater tots and other frozen potato products, about a month after consumers brought the first such litigation.

Expert Analysis

  • Inside FTC's Decision To Exit Key Merger Review Labor Memo

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    Despite the Federal Trade Commission's recent withdrawal from a multiagency memorandum of understanding to step up enforcement of labor issues in merger investigations, the antitrust agencies aren't likely to give up their labor market focus, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • FDIC Guidance Puts Next-Gen ATMs In Regulatory Spotlight

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    The boring existence of ATMs is changing thanks to the emergence of new-age interactive teller machines, prompting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to sound off in a potentially influential August letter to branches on which services might need regulatory approval, says Thomas Walker at Jones Walker.

  • 7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight

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    Because jurors tend to pay a little more attention to cross-examination, attorneys should train their witnesses to strike a balance — making it tough for opposing counsel to make their side’s case, without coming across as difficult to the jury, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Understanding New ACH Network Anti-Fraud Rules

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    Many of the National Automated Clearing House Association’s recent amendments to ACH network risk management rules went into effect this month, so financial institutions and corporations must review and update their internal policies as needed, says Aisha Hall at Taft.

  • 6 Tips For Cos. Facing Service Provider Cyber Incidents

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    When a third-party service provider experiences a cybersecurity incident, businesses may wonder if their information is compromised and if their systems are safe, but there are certain steps that can help businesses prepare for and respond to targeted attacks on vendors, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Unpacking State AG Approaches To Digital Asset Enforcement

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    Attorneys at Cozen O'Connor survey recent digital asset enforcement by attorneys general nationwide driven by concerns over regulatory gaps where technological developments and market changes have outpaced legislation.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • CFPB School Lunch Focus Could Expand E-Payment Scrutiny

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent spotlight on payment processing systems used to add funds to school lunch accounts shows its continued ambitions to further expand its supervisory power in the payments industry, all the way down to the school lunch market, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Opinion

    Rental Price-Fixing Suit Against RealPage Doesn't Add Up

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    Recent government antitrust litigation against RealPage, alleging that the software company's algorithm for setting rental prices amounts to price-fixing, has failed to allege an actual conspiracy, and is an example of regulatory overreach that should be reined in, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • Compliance Pointers For Amended Pa. Data Breach Law

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    Recent updates to the Pennsylvania Breach of Personal Information Notification Act include a requirement that organizations alert the state's attorney general of certain consumer data breach notifications, and several incident response and cybersecurity considerations will be necessary to ensure compliance, say Matthew Meade and Laura Decker at Eckert Seamans.

  • Opinion

    FDIC's Foray Into Index Fund Rules Risks Regulatory Chaos

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    A proposed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule concerning control over passive index fund investments in banks is outside the agency's remit, clashes with an existing Federal Reserve process and would inhibit competition in the index fund sector, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

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