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Consumer Protection
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December 05, 2024
Trump Taps Musk Ally David Sacks As 'AI & Crypto Czar'
President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected David O. Sacks, a tech investor who worked alongside Elon Musk and entrepreneur Peter Thiel in the early days of PayPal, to be the newly created "White House AI & Crypto Czar."
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December 05, 2024
Texas Lt. Gov. Wants Ban On Hemp-Derived THC Products
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has unveiled legislation that looks to ban all forms of consumable THC, including hemp products that "might include unremovable, nonintoxicating trace amounts of delta-9 THC."
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December 05, 2024
Rocket Mortgage Sues HUD, Hits Back At DOJ Race Bias Suit
Rocket Mortgage, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, has punched back against housing discrimination claims brought by the U.S. government, countersuing in Colorado federal court to challenge what it argues are "conflicting and irreconcilable" mandates at play.
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December 05, 2024
CFTC Flags AI Compliance Obligations In New Advisory
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday issued a staff advisory outlining its registrants' compliance obligations under the Commodity Exchange Act regarding the myriad of ways they may be using artificial intelligence, with the agency's chair painting the guidance as a first step ahead of potential policies.
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December 05, 2024
Apple To Appeal Epic's Atty-Client Privilege Challenge Win
Apple and Epic Games told a California federal judge Thursday that they've agreed on a protocol for a special master to re-review 57,000 documents that Apple claims are attorney-client privileged in their antitrust fight, while Apple added that it plans to appeal his finding that its privilege assertions over a sample were overbroad.
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December 05, 2024
Apple Beats ICloud Storage Consumer Claims At 9th Circ.
The Ninth Circuit was unconvinced Wednesday that Apple Inc. traps computer users into paying for additional iCloud storage upon reaching a 5-gigabyte backup limit, declining to revive a putative consumer class action against the technology giant.
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December 05, 2024
Freddie Mac Beats Suit Over Payoff Statement Fees, For Now
A Washington federal judge has tentatively let Freddie Mac off the hook in borrowers' proposed class action alleging loan servicer Nationstar Mortgage illegally charged fees for payoff statements, ruling Thursday that Freddie Mac can't be liable for conduct it didn't authorize — even if it did own one loan at issue.
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December 05, 2024
SEC Says Binance's Platform Is 'Integral' To Securities Claims
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Washington, D.C., federal judge that crypto exchange Binance can't escape amended claims that it failed to register with the securities regulator because the platform is "integral" to crypto issuers' alleged promises to increase the value of their tokens.
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December 05, 2024
Gov't Efficiency Push Is A 'New Day,' House Speaker Says
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke excitedly Thursday about the new government efficiency operation helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and touted the budding bipartisan lineup of a congressional caucus that will work with it.
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December 05, 2024
Amazon Says Section 230 Shields Against Casino App Suit
Amazon said Wednesday a federal judge should toss a proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant of promoting and selling "social casino" apps that enable illegal gambling, arguing the company is immune under a federal law regulating internet content because it did not create the games.
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December 05, 2024
Yardi Must Face Rent-Fixing Suit With Tough Standard
A Washington federal court has refused to dismiss an antitrust case accusing multifamily building owners of conspiring to use Yardi's revenue management software to inflate rental prices and found the claims should be treated as classic price-fixing allegations.
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December 05, 2024
First Citizens Accused Of $3M High-Yield Bait-And-Switch
First Citizens Bank & Trust Company faces claims from an agritourism nonprofit and its registered agent that they invested $3 million with the bank expecting a competitive rate of return before finding those funds were actually in products yielding a much lower interest rate.
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December 05, 2024
Pain Management Clinic Fined $1.19 Million for HIPAA Breach
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has fined a Florida pain management clinic $1.19 million for alleged HIPAA violations involving a former contractor that impermissibly accessed the clinic's electronic record system.
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December 05, 2024
Tesla Can't 'Pretend' Dismissal Was Stay Order, 9th Circ. Says
A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday doubted Tesla's arguments that a California federal court had jurisdictional authority to enforce its arbitration win against an ex-Tesla engineer's defamation claims, with one judge noting that Tesla asked to dismiss the engineer's case and it can't now "pretend" the dismissal was a stay order.
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December 05, 2024
Charter Settles For $1.1M After FCC Emergency Alert Probe
Charter has agreed to pay $1.1 million to end an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission into whether the cable giant failed to properly keep emergency alert devices online during an FCC test of the system last fall.
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December 05, 2024
Audible's Expiring Membership Credits Illegal, Consumer Says
Audible Inc. is the target of a proposed class action accusing the audiobook retailer of selling credits that expire after one year, in violation of Washington consumer law.
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December 05, 2024
Carriers Must Shield Networks From Attacks, FCC Chair Says
The head of the Federal Communications Commission called Thursday for "urgent action" from U.S. telecom carriers to protect their networks in the wake of the recent Salt Typhoon cyberattack, and said the agency could soon rule that telecoms are affirmatively required under law to try to prevent such intrusions.
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December 05, 2024
Barclays GC To Join A&O Shearman Cyber Team
A&O Shearman has tapped the current general counsel for Barclays Execution Services to co-head its global cybersecurity team, the firm announced Thursday, with the lawyer set to make the jump early next year.
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December 05, 2024
Airbnb Customers Drop 'Assistance Fee' Suit Against Insurers
A proposed class of Airbnb customers permanently dropped a suit accusing two of the company's insurance providers of violating Washington state law by charging an "assistance fee" when selling travel coverage.
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December 05, 2024
DEI Provision Dooms Boeing's 737 Max Plea Deal
A Texas federal judge on Thursday rejected Boeing's plea agreement in its 737 Max criminal conspiracy case, finding flaws in how the U.S. Department of Justice intended to use race and diversity to select an independent compliance monitor to oversee Boeing, and how the court was cut out of that process.
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December 05, 2024
French Antitrust Regulator Fines Airlines €14.6M For Collusion
France's competition authority has hit two airlines with fines totaling €14.6 million ($15.3 million) after it concluded that they had colluded to inflate ticket prices while reducing services for "captive customers" on French Caribbean islands.
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December 04, 2024
Ford Must Face Claims Over Vendor's Website Chat Access
A California federal judge has narrowed but refused to toss a revised putative class action accusing Ford Motor Co. of allowing a third-party software provider to eavesdrop on website chats, finding that the plaintiff had adequately alleged that the automaker was "aware" of the vendor's allegedly unlawful conduct.
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December 04, 2024
Meta Genocide Defense Spurs 'Yeah Right' From 9th Circ.
Ninth Circuit judges doubted Wednesday whether women fleeing genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar could have realistically investigated Facebook's role in spreading disinformation and called a lawyer, with one judge calling the defense argument "silly" and another judge responding, "yeah right."
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December 04, 2024
Rep. Hill Vows To Tackle Crypto 'De-Banking' In Next Congress
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle plan to investigate alleged government efforts to cut off cryptocurrency businesses from the traditional banking system, Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said Wednesday during a House Financial Services Committee hearing that also saw its retiring chair feted with a celebration of bow ties.
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December 04, 2024
Quaker Beats 'Simply Granola' False Ad Suit, For Now
An Illinois federal judge has freed the Quaker Oats Company from a putative class action alleging it deceived consumers into believing its "Simply Granola" product contained only oats, honey, raisins and almonds, saying no reasonable consumer would conclude those were the only ingredients based on the products' label.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation
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.
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How Transaction Lookbacks Can Guide Fintech Companies
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.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
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.
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Opinion
CFPB's AI Stance Backslides On Innovation Issues
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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How Ripple Final Judgment Fits In Broader Crypto Landscape
The Southern District of New York's recent $125 million civil penalty levied in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple will have a broad impact on the crypto industry as it was the first to hold that blind sales of digital assets are not securities, even if deemed securities in other circumstances, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
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The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar
The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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IP Hot Topic: The Intersection Of Trademark And Antitrust Law
Antitrust claims – like those in the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent case against Apple – are increasingly influencing trademark disputes and enforcement practices, demonstrating how antitrust law can dilute the power of a trademark, say attorneys at Dentons.
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When Trauma Colors Testimony: How To Help Witnesses
As stress-related mental health issues continue to rise, trial attorneys must become familiar with a few key trauma-informed strategies to help witnesses get back on track — leaning in to the counselor aspect of their vocations, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Series
Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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What Cos. Need to Know About Battery Labeling Law
With new labeling requirements for button cell battery packaging taking effect in September, manufacturers and importers must review compliance, testing procedures, and necessary paperwork as the consequences of noncompliance can lead to costly penalties and supply chain woes, says Aasheesh Shravah at CM Law.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
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Banking Compliance Takeaways From Joint Agency Statement
Federal bank regulatory agencies’ recent joint statement warning of risks associated with third-party fintech deposit services spotlights a fundamental problem that may arise with bank deposit products that are made through increasingly complex customer relationships, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.
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When The Supreme Court Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade
Instead of grousing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning long-standing precedents, attorneys should look to history for examples of how enterprising legal minds molded difficult decisions to their advantage, and figure out how to work with the cards they’ve been dealt, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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What BIPA Reform Law Means For Biometrics Litigation
A recently signed Illinois law amending the Biometric Information Privacy Act limits defendants' liability exposure on a per-scan basis and clarifies that electronic signatures constitute a valid written release, establishing additional issues that courts will need to address in future BIPA litigation, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.