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Consumer Protection
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January 23, 2025
Fitbit To Pay $12M Fine For Ionic Smartwatch Burns
Fitbit has agreed to pay a $12.25 million fine to resolve the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's allegations it failed to immediately report that its Ionic smartwatches were overheating and leaving some consumers with second- and third-degree burns, the consumer safety agency announced Thursday.
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January 23, 2025
Dems Cite 'Unprecedented Concerns' With Trump Memecoins
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jake Auchincloss have urged federal regulators to address "unprecedented concerns" associated with the recent launch of so-called memecoins associated with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, citing threats of consumer ripoffs, corruption and foreign influence.
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January 23, 2025
Atty Hit With TCPA Class Action Over Camp Lejeune Calls
A North Carolina plaintiffs firm was hit with a proposed class action accusing it of making unsolicited calls to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry in an effort to secure a client in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune toxic drinking water case — at least the fourth firm to face similar claims.
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January 23, 2025
NY Regulator Steps Up Overdraft Fee Fight In CFPB's Wake
New York's Department of Financial Services has proposed new limits on overdraft and insufficient funds fees for banks that it regulates, positioning the state to pick up where the Biden administration left off with efforts to curb so-called junk fees.
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January 23, 2025
Conn. High Court Snapshot: Atty's Bonus, Burn Verdict
In its next term starting Monday, the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an appeal from an acupuncturist who doesn't want to share liability for a judgment paid to a burn victim, and consider whether to reverse a seven-figure verdict for a private equity management firm's founder, who claims other members improperly cut him out.
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January 23, 2025
Trump Forms Crypto Working Group To Create Fed. Framework
President Donald Trump took another step towards fulfilling his campaign promises to the cryptocurrency industry on Thursday with an executive order that directs regulators to get to work establishing a federal framework for digital assets and prohibits the creation of a central bank digital currency.
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January 23, 2025
Vape Maker Seeks Exit From Suit Over Delta-9 THC Levels
An Illinois-based vape maker urged a federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of fraudulently passing off illicit Delta-9 products as legal Delta-8 ones, saying the suit lacks fundamental details, such as which products were purchased and what laboratory tested them.
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January 23, 2025
Judge Inclined To OK Visa, Mastercard $197.5M ATM Fee Deal
A D.C. federal judge seemed poised Thursday to give final blessing to a $197.5 million settlement resolving class action claims that Visa and Mastercard conspired with major banks to fix ATM access fees, but the judge said he needed more time to reflect on attorney fees.
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January 23, 2025
4th Circ. Unwinds Rocket Mortgage Borrowers' Class Cert.
A split Fourth Circuit on Thursday reversed the class certification of borrowers who accused Rocket Mortgage of inflating their home values, finding that not all potential class members could prove they were injured under the U.S. Supreme Court's heightened pleading standard in TransUnion.
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January 23, 2025
GOP AGs, Groups Back 11th Circ. Noncompete Ban Challenge
A group of Republican state attorneys general filed one of a half-dozen amicus briefs Wednesday urging the Eleventh Circuit not to revive the Federal Trade Commission's ban on employment noncompete agreements, arguing the already-endangered rule exceeded FTC authority and threatens legitimate safeguards for corporate secrets.
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January 23, 2025
SEC Rescinds Controversial Crypto Accounting Guidance
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rolled back its controversial cryptocurrency accounting guidance known as SAB 121 Thursday evening, hot on the heels of newly appointed acting Chairman Mark Uyeda's commitment to shifting the regulator toward setting clear guidelines for digital assets.
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January 23, 2025
AT&T, Dish Owe FCC $20.6M In Unverified Subsidy Payments
AT&T and Dish Network will have to repay the Federal Communications Commission the more than $20 million it took in early pandemic broadband subsidy funds because they failed to verify that the people they used those funds for were eligible for the program.
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January 23, 2025
NJ Town Loses Bid To Join NYC Congestion Pricing Suit
A federal judge on Thursday rebuffed a bid from the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, to be heard in the ongoing litigation surrounding this month's implementation of the congestion pricing toll program in Manhattan.
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January 23, 2025
McKinsey Not Covered For Over 260 Opioid Suits, Chubb Says
A group of Chubb insurers said they have no duty to defend or indemnify McKinsey & Co. in more than 260 suits accusing the management consulting firm of contributing to the opioid epidemic, telling a Delaware state court that the underlying suits do not seek damage "because of" bodily injury.
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January 23, 2025
Conn. Lawmakers Target Healthcare After Hospital's Ch. 11
In the lead-up to and aftermath of California hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc.'s $1 billion bankruptcy, Connecticut lawmakers are considering new regulatory powers, promising and penning oversight bills for hospitals owned by private equity firms and real estate trusts while seeking to stabilize the state's healthcare markets.
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January 23, 2025
PayPal To Pay $2M To NY Regulator In Cybersecurity Deal
PayPal agreed on Thursday to pay a $2 million fine to the New York State Department of Financial Services to resolve allegations that it failed to use qualified personnel to manage key cybersecurity functions and failed to provide proper training to address cybersecurity risks, resulting in sensitive customer information being vulnerable to hackers.
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January 23, 2025
Calif. Kids' Privacy Law Ignores 1st Amendment, Judge Says
A California federal judge appeared open Thursday to preliminarily blocking for the second time a landmark California law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, telling the state's counsel that nothing shows the Legislature "cared one whit about the Constitution," and "now you're trying to reverse engineer it."
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January 23, 2025
HP Says Ill. Ink Antitrust Claims Fall 'Woefully Short'
HP urged an Illinois federal judge on Thursday to toss out customers' lawsuit accusing it of anticompetitively blocking them from using third-party ink cartridges in their machines, arguing that they haven't come close to showing how it tied customers' printer purchases to the alleged restriction.
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January 23, 2025
Federal Agencies Must Order Full Return To Office By Friday
Federal agencies will order employees to return to the office by Friday at 5 p.m. to end the "national embarrassment" that remote work policies have fueled, the Office of Personnel Management said, following President Donald Trump's executive order.
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January 23, 2025
Meta Wants Mass. Justices To Intervene In AG's Suit
Meta Platforms has urged Massachusetts' highest court to take up its challenge to a pending lawsuit brought by the state attorney general's office, which accused the social media company of intentionally designing Instagram to be addictive to children and teenagers.
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January 23, 2025
House Bill Filed To Renew FCC Auctions, Spectrum Pipeline
A Republican lawmaker introduced a bill Thursday that would give the Federal Communications Commission authority to auction the airwaves and direct the government to turn over at least 2,500 megahertz for private sector or shared use in the next five years.
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January 23, 2025
FTC Chair's 1st Act: Ending 'Scourge' Of DEI
Andrew N. Ferguson made his first public act as the Federal Trade Commission's new Republican chairman Wednesday by ordering the end of all agency diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and declaring that the "scourge" of DEI is over at the FTC.
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January 23, 2025
Khan Leaving The Federal Trade Commission By Jan. 31
Federal Trade Commission member Lina M. Khan has said she'll leave the agency by the end of the month, stepping down after President Donald Trump's inauguration enshrined her demotion from chair to line commissioner.
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January 23, 2025
Turkey Buyers Get Classes Certified For Antitrust Claims
An Illinois federal court certified two classes of buyers in a case accusing the country's largest turkey processors of working together to reduce supply and increase prices after refusing to exclude analysis from the buyers' experts.
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January 23, 2025
DraftKings Sued Again Over Alleged 'Deceptive' Promotions
DraftKings lures new bettors with unethical and fraudulent practices, such as "risk-free" bets, newcomer bonuses and deposit matches, that make it "the present face of competition in the obscenely profitable, and formerly illegal, industry," according to a proposed class action in New York federal court.
Expert Analysis
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7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight
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.
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Series
Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Understanding New ACH Network Anti-Fraud Rules
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.
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6 Tips For Cos. Facing Service Provider Cyber Incidents
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.
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Unpacking State AG Approaches To Digital Asset Enforcement
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.
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Opinion
Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits
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.
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How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program
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.
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Series
Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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CFPB School Lunch Focus Could Expand E-Payment Scrutiny
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.
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Opinion
Rental Price-Fixing Suit Against RealPage Doesn't Add Up
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.
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Compliance Pointers For Amended Pa. Data Breach Law
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.
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Opinion
FDIC's Foray Into Index Fund Rules Risks Regulatory Chaos
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.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
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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Ga. Fintech Bank Charter Could Reshape Payments Industry
Georgia’s recent granting of a special banking charter to transaction processor Fiserv, allowing the fintech company to access major card payment networks without a traditional bank as intermediary, could spark a restructuring of the national payments infrastructure and open new possibilities for businesses and consumers, says Jessica Cino at Krevolin & Horst.
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Opinion
Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code
As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.