Consumer Protection

  • December 17, 2024

    NTIA Puts $450M More Toward Wireless Supply Chain

    The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is putting an additional $450 million toward helping the industry build open radio access networks, which many have pointed to as the solution for pivoting away from Chinese-made technology due to security concerns.

  • December 17, 2024

    SEC, CFTC Members Eye Crypto Coordination Under Trump

    Republican commissioners at the federal securities and futures regulators told crypto industry participants on Tuesday that they will urge their agencies to collaborate more closely on providing regulatory relief and clarity in the new year as they wait for lawmakers to get long-awaited crypto legislation across the finish line.

  • December 17, 2024

    Quinn Emanuel, Keller Postman Want To Lead Live Nation Suit

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Keller Postman LLC attorneys told a California federal court that they are best suited to represent proposed classes of consumers accusing Live Nation and Ticketmaster of monopolizing the ticketing services space, saying they "developed the heart" of the consumers' claims.

  • December 17, 2024

    Google-Apple Collusion Plaintiff Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Suit

    A California crane operator training school asked the Ninth Circuit on Monday to revive its case accusing Google of paying Apple to refrain from developing its own search engine in light of a recent Washington, D.C., federal judge's decision that Google monopolizes the search market.

  • December 17, 2024

    FTC, Meta Fight Over Monopolization Trial Limits

    Meta Platforms and the FTC are butting heads about how to structure the trial they are hurtling toward in April in D.C. federal court over the agency's monopolization claims, trading barbs Tuesday and trying to make their cases for how they think the multiweek trial should look.

  • December 17, 2024

    DOJ Antitrust Division Head Kanter Stepping Down Friday

    The head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Jonathan Kanter, announced his imminent departure Tuesday, leaving the agency after a little over three years and with a legacy of dramatically ramped-up monopolization enforcement, an extremely low tolerance for potentially problematic transactions and more aggressive criminal enforcement.

  • December 17, 2024

    Insurer Gets $29M Fatal Crash Judgment Thrown Out

    A North Carolina appeals court on Tuesday threw out a nearly $29 million judgment against an insurance company in a suit alleging it failed to defend and settle claims from a fatal car accident, saying the company had no duty to defend.

  • December 17, 2024

    T-Mobile-UScellular Link Will Help Consumers, Think Tank Says

    A free-market think tank is urging the federal government to clear the way for T-Mobile's $4.4 billion purchase of UScellular's wireless operations, saying in a new report that because the smaller UScellular poses no real competitive threat to T-Mobile, the deal could carry significant consumer benefits through increased competition.

  • December 17, 2024

    Visa Says 'Contradictory' Debit Card Market Dooms DOJ Suit

    Visa Inc. formally asked a New York federal judge Monday to nix the U.S. Department of Justice monopolization lawsuit accusing it of paying off would-be debit network rivals and penalizing the use of alternate payment systems, arguing the government cannot mix-and-match its way into claiming the company holds a dominant market share.

  • December 17, 2024

    AGs Can File Opposition To Clearview AI BIPA Deal

    An Illinois federal judge is allowing 22 states and the District of Columbia to challenge a deal to end multidistrict litigation over Clearview AI's practice of automatically collecting biometric facial data online, with attorneys general arguing the settlement would provide no meaningful injunctive relief and give plaintiffs an unknown financial stake in the company.

  • December 17, 2024

    House GOP Asks CVS How Its PBM Treats Smaller Pharmacies

    Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are demanding documents from CVS on its pharmacy benefit manager's treatment of independent pharmacies, continuing to press the healthcare giant over potentially anticompetitive conduct.

  • December 17, 2024

    CFPB Finalizes Rule For PACE Loans

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday finalized a rule that applies standard mortgage protections to so-called Property Assessed Clean Energy loans, where homeowners pay for upgrades through property tax bills.

  • December 17, 2024

    Grubhub To Pay $25M To End FTC Suit Over Deceptive Tactics

    The Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois attorney general teamed up Tuesday to announce a settlement that requires Grubhub Inc. to pay $25 million to resolve claims that the food-delivery service charged customers hidden junk fees, listed restaurants on its app without their permission and misled drivers about how much money they could make.

  • December 17, 2024

    Roblox, Epic Games Accused Of Addicting Minors

    A suit filed in California state court has alleged that Epic Games and Roblox purposefully addict minors to playing their video games, knowing that the more time that they spend playing games, the more they will spend on in-game purchases.

  • December 17, 2024

    Rival Says In-Flight Internet Provider Gogo Foils Competitors

    SmartSky Networks LLC is seeking more than $1 billion in damages in a new lawsuit accusing Gogo Business Aviation LLC of blocking its entry in the market for internet service on business flights, building on an intellectual property dispute between the companies.

  • December 17, 2024

    Asset Manager Gets 2½ Years For Role In $1.2B PDVSA Scheme

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an asset manager who pled guilty to participating in a $1.2 billion scheme to embezzle money from Venezuela's state-owned oil company to 2½ years in prison.

  • December 17, 2024

    Senate Dem's Bill Would Mandate New FCC Outage Reports

    Networks that receive funding to help them rebound from climate-related disasters would need to file new reports of outages to the Federal Communications Commission under a Democratic bill filed in the U.S. Senate.

  • December 17, 2024

    Apple Fights Epic's Atty Privilege Challenge Win Over Docs

    Apple has asked a California federal judge to overturn a magistrate judge and allow it to withhold documents in a discovery spat with Epic Games, arguing Monday the documents in the antitrust case aren't simply business analyses but rather, reflect "'legal advice on a business decision,' which is protected."

  • December 17, 2024

    Heartland Payment Settles Florida School Lunch Card Suit

    Parents from Florida and elsewhere have settled a proposed federal class action with a payment processor over alleged unfair surcharges collected after depositing lunch money onto school-sponsored reloadable cards used by their kids.

  • December 17, 2024

    Connecticut Gallery Wants To Erase Most Of 'Fake' Art Suit

    A Connecticut art gallery has asked for a judge's permission to seek summary judgment on most counts in a lawsuit alleging that it sold a fake Keith Haring chalk drawing for $165,000 after vouching for its authenticity, writing in a proposed memorandum that the plaintiff's remedies are limited to rescission of the purchase agreement and a refund.

  • December 16, 2024

    Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2024's Most Memorable Moments

    One judge said a litigant's position would cause "an effing nightmare," and another decried the legal community's silence amid "illegitimate aspersions." Public officials literally trashed one court's opinion, and fateful rulings dealt with controversial politicians, social media and decades of environmental policy. Those were just a few appellate highlights in 2024, a year teeming with memorable moments both substantive and sensational.

  • December 16, 2024

    'Exploding' Crock-Pot Caused $56M In Damages, Jury Says

    A Colorado federal jury found Friday that an "exploding" Sunbeam pressure cooker caused $55.5 million in damages to a Denver woman, but also said the woman was 10% responsible.

  • December 16, 2024

    TikTok Brings Sale-Or-Ban Fight To High Court

    TikTok asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to stay a federal law that would force its owners to divest from the wildly popular social media app or shut its U.S. operation down just before Donald Trump's inauguration, saying his administration should get a say in the app's fate.

  • December 16, 2024

    'Plans Do Matter,' Tempur Sealy Says In Final Merger Hearing

    Tempur Sealy made its final push Monday in support of its $4 billion planned Mattress Firm purchase, telling a judge during closing arguments that the Federal Trade Commission hadn't shown that the company planned to deviate from its intent for Mattress Firm to remain autonomous. 

  • December 16, 2024

    Merger Enforcers End Year On Upswing

    The Biden administration's antitrust enforcers have boasted that one side effect of their aggressive approach to merger enforcement has been helping stop problematic deals from being cut in the first place, but the agencies also scored key court rulings blocking transactions in their final year that could have a more enduring effect.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Monitoring And FCRA: Employer Compliance Essentials

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission signal determination to treat AI-based workplace surveillance as a potential Fair Credit Reporting Act issue, employers must commit to educating HR and compliance staff on these quickly evolving regulatory expectations, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Crypto Cos. Add New Play In Their Offense Against SEC

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    Consensys and Crypto.com have adopted a novel strategy of preempting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions by moving to crypto-friendly Texas and filing declaratory lawsuits challenging the SEC's jurisdiction to regulate crypto-assets — an aggressive approach that may pay off, say attorneys at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Recent Listeria Outbreaks Hold Key Compliance Lessons

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    Listeria outbreaks in ready-to-eat foods from Boar's Head and other companies, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration responses to these outbreaks, should be closely evaluated from an overall compliance and risk management perspective by food manufacturers, retailers and industry investors, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • 8 Tech Tips For Stress-Free Remote Depositions

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    Court reporter Kelly D’Amico shares practical strategies for attorneys to conduct remote depositions with ease and troubleshoot any issues that arise, as it seems deposition-by-Zoom is here to stay after the pandemic.

  • How To Safely Leverage AI In The Digital Assets Industry

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    Digital asset businesses that use or plan to implement artificial intelligence should assess their risk management frameworks to ensure that AI-related business areas, including customer support and fraud detection, are in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory guidance from the last year, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • What Cos. Can Learn from Water Microplastics Class Actions

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    Class actions against companies whose bottled spring water allegedly contains microplastics, challenging claims such as "natural" and "100% spring water," seem to be drying up — but these cases serve as a good reminder to other businesses to review regulatory standards, and carefully vet plaintiff allegations at the outset, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • $3B TD Bank AML Settlement Is A Wake-Up Call For All Banks

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    TD Bank’s historic settlement over anti-money laundering violations, resulting in over $3 billion in penalties, reminds banks of all shapes and sizes why they need to take financial crime compliance seriously, and highlights three areas that may be especially vulnerable to enforcement, says Jack Harrington at Bradley Arant.

  • Opinion

    The Right Kind Of Deregulation In Commercial Airline Industry

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    Similar to the economic deregulation that occurred more than four decades ago during the Carter administration, the incoming Trump administration should restore the very limited federal regulatory role in the economics of the airline industry, says former U.S. transportation secretary James Burnley at Venable.

  • Unpacking The CFPB's Personal Financial Data Final Rule

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's personal financial data rights rule includes several important changes from the proposed rule, and hundreds of pages of supplementary information that provide important insights into the manner in which the bureau will enforce the final rule, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Feds May Have Overstepped In Suit Against Mortgage Lender

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit against Rocket Mortgage goes too far in attempting to combat racial bias and appears to fail on the fatal flaw that mortgage lenders should be at arm's length from appraisers, says Drew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • 4 Ways Attorneys Can Emotionally Prepare For Trial

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    In the course of litigation, trial lawyers face a number of scenarios that can incite an emotional response, but formulating a mental game plan in advance of trial can help attorneys stay cool, calm and collected in the moment, says Rachel Lary at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • The AI Consumer Class Action Threat Is Not A Hallucination

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    As regulators scrutinize whether businesses can deliver on claims about their artificial intelligence products and services, the industry faces a wave of consumer fraud class actions — but AI companies can protect themselves by prioritizing fundamental best practices that are often overlooked, say Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein and Richard Torrenzano at the Torrenzano Group.

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