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Consumer Protection
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July 01, 2024
EPA Inks Deal To Take Action On States' Haze Plans
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to take action on plan revisions submitted by more than 30 states aimed at curbing haze-forming air pollution, resolving environmental groups' claims the agency has unlawfully delayed approving or denying the various plan revisions.
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July 01, 2024
Binance, Ex-CEO Must Face 'Bulk' Of SEC Case
A Washington, D.C., federal judge has ruled that Binance, its former CEO and its U.S. arm will have to face the "bulk" of a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but claims surrounding the crypto exchange's stablecoin and certain secondary sales of its proprietary token won't move forward.
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July 01, 2024
Fla. Telecom To Pay $1M Fine For FCC Underpayments
Florida-based telecom PayG will be shelling out a $1 million penalty to the Federal Communications Commission after the agency said it contributed some $400,000 less than it should have to the Universal Service Fund.
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July 01, 2024
NC Doctor Takes Abortion Drug Limits Fight To 4th Circ.
A North Carolina doctor who challenged the state's restrictions on abortion drug mifepristone asked the Fourth Circuit to review a district court's decision to allow certain limits to stand.
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July 01, 2024
Talc Victims Can't Block J&J From Filing For Ch. 11 Outside NJ
A New Jersey federal judge has denied a bid for a restraining order from a group of patients suing Johnson & Johnson over claims they were injured by its talc products, saying their concern that the company would try to file for bankruptcy outside the Garden State is based on speculation and not ripe for litigation.
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July 01, 2024
SD Ban On Modified Hemp Products Allowed To Take Effect
A new South Dakota state law prohibiting the processing of hemp derivatives into intoxicating products was allowed to go into effect Monday after a federal judge declined to grant an injunction halting its enforcement while a constitutional challenge played out.
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July 01, 2024
White & Case Veteran To Co-Head Global Comp Practice
White & Case LLP announced Monday the addition of a second chair for its still-growing global competition practice, elevating a 16-year firm veteran to co-chair the group.
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July 01, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Two multimillion-dollar settlement approvals, a $25 million fee-shifting demand, and a biotech merger spoiled by murder: This was just the beginning of the drama last week in the nation's preeminent court of equity. Shareholders in satellite companies filed new cases, a cannabis company headed toward trial, and there were new developments in old disputes involving Tesla and Truth Social.
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July 01, 2024
GM Says No Warranty Breach Over Alleged Parking Defect
General Motors LLC has asked a Michigan federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging it sold vehicles that can't detect when they're in park, forcing drivers to resort to "gimmicks" to shut them off, saying drivers haven't shown the alleged defect is dangerous or that GM knew about it when it sold the vehicles.
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July 01, 2024
Judge Won't Block Iowa Hemp Law Regulating THC Limits
An Iowa law that imposes new restrictions on products with hemp-derived THC went into effect Monday after a federal judge, who previously expressed "serious concerns" about the statute's constitutionality, declined to grant a temporary restraining order halting its enforcement.
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July 01, 2024
Judge Chips Away At BofA COVID Card Fraud Claims
Bank of America can't escape a proposed class action over its allegedly insufficient security measures affecting prepaid debit cards for unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though a New Jersey federal judge has, for now, tossed some of the suit's allegations.
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July 01, 2024
Feds Say Ex-Magellan Officer's Atty May Have Conflict
A Donnelly Conroy & Gelhaar LLP attorney's prior representation of co-defendants in a pending fraud case against former executives of medical device company Magellan Diagnostics may have created a disqualifying conflict of interest, lawyers for the government told a Massachusetts federal judge.
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July 01, 2024
Ga. E-Commerce Law Blocked By Federal Statute, Judge Says
A Georgia federal judge on Sunday blocked new state-level regulations on e-commerce platforms from being enforced just a day before they were set to take effect, ruling that the Peach State's planned oversight conflicts with counterparts in federal law.
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July 01, 2024
Morgan Lewis Hires CFPB, FTC Pro In DC Office
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has hired a public servant with more than 30 years of experience working in federal agencies that have oversight of financial services and consumer protection issues, the firm announced Monday.
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July 01, 2024
Meta 'Pay Or Consent' Model Breaches Digital Rules, EU Says
Meta's "pay or consent" advertising model for Facebook and Instagram users does not comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act, the bloc's antitrust watchdog said in preliminary findings on Monday.
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July 01, 2024
Supreme Court Widens Window To Challenge Federal Regs
Legal challenges to federal regulations can be brought outside the normal statute of limitations if someone isn't adversely affected until after the six-year window of time to file suit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
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June 28, 2024
Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes
By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.
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June 28, 2024
Iowa's Hemp Law Could Be 'Unconstitutionally Vague'
A federal judge on Friday suggested she'd consider blocking an Iowa hemp law, set to go into effect Monday, which would impose new restrictions on THC levels and dole out criminal penalties, saying the statute "potentially raises due process concerns."
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June 28, 2024
Wyndham Can't Escape Ohio Sex Trafficking Liability Suit
Wyndham Hotels lost its bid to escape a woman's lawsuit alleging it ignored obvious signs she was trafficked for sex at a Knights Inn brand hotel when an Ohio federal judge ruled Friday that she sufficiently alleged the company was directly liable for harming her.
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June 28, 2024
In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.
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June 28, 2024
Problems Linger Amid Efforts To Clean Up Debt Firm's Mess
After the collapse of a California debt relief firm last year amid allegations of fraud, a bankruptcy judge signed off on a plan to allow a new firm to begin providing services for thousands of affected clients. While the new firm has promised to clean up its predecessor’s mess, some consumers say little to nothing has changed, and now enforcement agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have started asking questions.
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June 28, 2024
E-Commerce Not Speech, Strictly Business, Ga. Tells Judge
Lawyers for the State of Georgia attempted to convince a Georgia federal judge Friday that new regulations on e-commerce platforms set to take effect Monday neither restrict the online platforms' speech, nor do they conflict with a comparable set of restrictions enacted by Congress last year.
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June 28, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Revives Part Of Sprout Baby Food Label Suit
A California couple suing Sprout Foods over nutrient statements on its baby food pouches can pursue a Golden State law claim but not fraud-based claims, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Friday, saying federal law doesn't preempt the state's labeling standards, but the parents haven't shown the products were misleading.
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June 28, 2024
Conn. Court Shouldn't Hear Anti-Dispensary Appeal, City Says
A Connecticut appeals court should not hear a case brought by an anti-cannabis organization in Stamford that is trying to undo a court-approved settlement that allowed for the opening of a dispensary, the city's Zoning Board has argued.
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June 28, 2024
FCC Subsidy Opponents File New 5th Circ. Challenge
A free-market group and others seeking to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's telecom subsidy system has again filed suit in the Fifth Circuit to oppose the industry fees that fund the programs.
Expert Analysis
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Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture
In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.
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Debate Over CFPB Definition Of Credit Is Just Beginning
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently worked to expand the meaning of credit, so anyone operating on the edges of the credit markets, or even those who assumed they were safely outside the scope of this regulatory perimeter, should pay close attention as legal challenges to broad interpretations of the definition unfold, says John Coleman at Orrick.
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Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond
Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.
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How Federal And State Microfiber Pollution Policy Is Evolving
Growing efforts to address synthetic microfiber pollution may create compliance and litigation issues for businesses in the textile and apparel industries, so companies should track developing federal and state legislation and regulation in this space, and should consider associated greenwashing risks, says Arie Feltman-Frank at Jenner & Block.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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10 Tips To Build Trust With Your Witness During Trial Prep
Preparing a witness for deposition or trial requires more than just legal skills — lawyers must also work to cultivate trust with the witness, using strategies ranging from wearing a hat when conducting mock cross-examination to offering them a ride to court before they testify, say Faye Paul Teller and Sara McDermott at Munger Tolles.
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A Look At US-EU Consumer Finance Talks' Slow First Steps
The unhurried and informal nature of planned discussions between the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the European commissioner for justice and consumer protection suggests any coordinated regulatory action on issues like AI and "buy now, pay later" services is still a ways off, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits
Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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Calif. Web Tracking Cases Show Courts' Indecision Over CIPA
Several hundred cases filed to date, and two recent conflicting rulings, underscore California courts' uncertainty over whether the use of web analytics tools to track users' website interactions can give rise to a violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, says Patricia Brum at Snell & Wilmer.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Takeaways From SEC's New Data Breach Amendments
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent amendment of its consumer privacy rules to require investment advisers and broker-dealers to put procedures in place to uncover data breaches and report them to customers evidences that protecting client records and information remains an SEC priority, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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What Junk Fee Law Means For Biz In California And Beyond
Come July 1, companies doing business in California must ensure that the price of any good or service as offered, displayed or advertised is inclusive of all mandatory fees and other charges in compliance with S.B. 478, which may have a far-reaching impact across the country due to wide applicability, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley Austin.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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A Look At M&A Conditions After FTC's Exxon-Pioneer Nod
The Federal Trade Commission's recent consent decree imposing several conditions on Exxon Mobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources helps illustrate key points about the current merger enforcement environment, including the probability of further investigations in the energy and pharmaceutical sectors, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.