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Consumer Protection
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September 24, 2024
Conn. Officials Want Nursing School Students' Claims Nixed
Pointing to the state's interests in regulating professions and the principle of sovereign immunity, Connecticut officials accused of "overreach" for withholding licenses from students at a shuttered nursing school say a federal judge must dismiss proposed class claims by affected students.
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September 24, 2024
Electrolux Stove Defect Suit In NC On Hold For Earlier Case
A North Carolina federal judge Tuesday paused a proposed class action alleging Electrolux Home Products sells defective ranges that turn on too easily, adopting a magistrate judge's report that said a stay is appropriate to await the outcome of a preceding case with similar allegations pending in Michigan federal court.
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September 24, 2024
Dish Owner Tells FCC Device Unlocking Good For Competition
Dish and its parent company EchoStar are leaning on the Federal Communications Commission to finalize requirements that mobile providers unlock a customer's device within 60 days of them signing up, so they can change carriers if they want.
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September 24, 2024
Electric Mustang Drivers Drop Ford Battery Defect Suit
Mustang Mach-E drivers have quietly dropped their suit accusing Ford Motor Co. of selling nearly 50,000 of electric vehicles with a dangerous battery defect that makes the car spontaneously shut off while driving.
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September 24, 2024
Md. Says Shipowner Liable For $2B Baltimore Bridge Rebuild
Maryland said the owner and manager of the cargo ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge must be held liable for the estimated $1.7 billion cost of rebuilding the bridge, claiming Tuesday that their negligence has caused "grievous impact" to Marylanders, the environment and the regional economy.
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September 24, 2024
FAA Chief Updates House Panel On Boeing Safety Culture Fix
The Federal Aviation Administration's chief told a House panel Tuesday that the agency has "dramatically" increased its oversight of Boeing, as lawmakers raised concerns about the pace of Boeing's safety culture overhaul amid an ongoing labor dispute with 33,000 workers.
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September 24, 2024
Dish Slams 'Entitled' Standard General Exec's Race Bias Suit
Dish Network has called for sanctions against Soo Kim, his hedge fund Standard General and their attorneys, calling Kim's racial discrimination suit against Dish, the Federal Communications Commission and a collection of other media players "an expensive temper tantrum."
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September 24, 2024
A Lawyer Promised Clients Fast Action. Then He 'Disappeared'
Dozens of ex-clients of a Florida lawyer have accused him of orchestrating a racketeering scheme in which clients were duped into paying nonrefundable retainer fees for legal services that were never delivered, allegedly causing a couple to lose their home while others lost custody of their children.
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September 24, 2024
Man In Mueller Report Asks DC Circ. To Revive Privacy Claim
A Georgian American businessman named in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on 2016 Russian election interference has petitioned the D.C. Circuit for an en banc review of a panel's decision not to revive his Privacy Act damages claim related to supposed inaccuracies, arguing the panel erred in finding he had abandoned damages arguments.
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September 24, 2024
Star Witness Against Bankman-Fried Gets 2 Years In FTX Case
A Manhattan federal judge sentenced former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison to two years in prison Tuesday, crediting her decision to testify against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried but saying the $11.2 billion fraud was too big to warrant a "get out of jail free card."
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September 24, 2024
8th Circ. Mulls Arkansas' Authority To Regulate Hemp
An Eighth Circuit panel on Monday pushed attorneys for the state of Arkansas and a group of hemp companies to define precisely how much power states have to restrict the production and sale of intoxicating products derived from federally legal hemp.
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September 24, 2024
DOJ Accuses Visa Of Monopolizing Debit Card Market
The U.S. Department of Justice accused Visa on Tuesday of illegally maintaining a monopoly over debit card networks by using its dominance to thwart competition from new and existing rivals, as the Biden administration continues its push to combat high prices using antitrust law.
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September 24, 2024
1st Circ. Sides With Wynn Casino Over Voucher Payouts
The First Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision tossing a proposed class action over Wynn Resorts Encore Boston Harbor casino's use of vouchers instead of coins to pay out winnings under $1.
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September 23, 2024
Nike, Others Let TikTok 'Fingerprint' Sites, Suits Claim
Nike, its subsidiary Converse and telehealth company Teladoc were each hit with proposed class actions on Friday in California federal court over allegations that they violated the state's "trap and trace" law by using TikTok software to collect personal data from visitors to their websites.
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September 23, 2024
Albertsons Says Wash. AG 'Cherry-Picked' Merger Fears
Counsel for Albertsons accused Washington regulators Monday of cherry-picking comments from the grocer's CEO hyping Kroger as key competition to bolster the government's case for blocking the merger and overcame the state's objections to introduce emails where the CEO expressed fears about Costco, Walmart and Amazon's ever-expanding reach.
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September 23, 2024
3rd Circ. Probes SEC's 'Close To Vacuous' Reply To Coinbase
Members of a Third Circuit panel on Monday pressed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its brief denial of crypto exchange Coinbase's request for rulemaking around digital assets, digging into how much of an explanation the agency owes the industry about its decision to forego setting rules for now.
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September 23, 2024
Google Executive Says There's No Internal Ad Tech Advantage
A Google executive pushed back Monday on some of the U.S. Justice Department's most important allegations of a conflict of interest in the search giant's control over online display advertising placement technology, arguing that website publishers are in charge of how ads are placed and priced.
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September 23, 2024
Need To Bag Your Groceries? You Can Have Paper, Calif. Says
California grocery stores won't be allowed to offer plastic bags of any kind in their checkout lines under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom a day before the California Attorney General's Office on Monday accused Exxon Mobil Corp. of inundating the state with plastic waste.
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September 23, 2024
Lowe's Customer Fights Arbitration Bid In 'Made In USA' Suit
A Lowe's customer opposed the retailer's bid to cut down his proposed class action accusing the company of falsely advertising its safety gloves as U.S. made, telling a Michigan federal court Lowe's has no grounds to send his claims to individual arbitration or relocate the dispute to North Carolina.
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September 23, 2024
John Paul Mitchell Beats Dry Shampoo Benzene Suit, For Now
An Illinois federal judge ruled Monday a putative consumer class action claiming a Paul Mitchell dry shampoo contains cancer-causing benzene didn't sufficiently show an "injury-in-fact" to warrant damages or even that the product contained the carcinogen, but gave the consumers a chance to amend their complaint.
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September 23, 2024
Calif. Gov. Vetoes Privacy Bill, OKs Social Media Addiction Law
California's governor has refused to enact legislation that would have required browser developers to make it easier for consumers to stop the sale and sharing of their personal information, while approving a bill that will block online platforms from using algorithms to deliver addictive feeds to children without parental consent.
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September 23, 2024
Gordon Rees Gets Insurer's Wash. Malpractice Suit Trimmed
A Washington judge issued a mixed order in a lawsuit brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer over allegations that misconduct by a Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney — coupled with another insurer's decision to yank coverage — forced the manufacturer into a settlement over a climber's fall.
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September 23, 2024
Bipartisan Senate Bill Would Extend Pandemic IG's Life
A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill Monday to extend the pandemic watchdog five years beyond its March sunset, which the office has been asking for continuously.
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September 23, 2024
EPA Admits Mistakes In Approving New Chevron Chemicals
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday told the D.C. Circuit that it overestimated the risk of allowing Chevron Corp. to create new fuel chemicals derived from plastic waste, asking the appeals court to remand the order authorizing the new substances back to federal regulators.
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September 23, 2024
'Bluey,' 'Paw Patrol' App Maker Sued Over 'Stealth Marketing'
A proposed class of parents is suing Budge Studios Inc., the maker of licensed phone and tablet applications for children's cartoons such as "Bluey" and "Paw Patrol," alleging that the company used predatory "stealth marketing" and "dark patterns" to entice children into getting their parents to pay for monthly subscriptions and in-app purchases.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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Regulators Are Revamping Use Of Bank Service Company Act
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Though the Bank Service Company Act was written six decades ago, banks and service providers should be alert to the evolving ways financial regulators are using the law as a tool for scrutinizing bank-fintech partnerships and third-party service providers that could put consumers at risk, say James Bergin and Paul Lim at Arnold & Porter.
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Series
After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC
Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.
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Managing Credit Card Rewards Programs Amid Scrutiny
Renewed New York and federal interest in consumer protection issues associated with credit card rewards programs presages future regulatory enforcement and attention from plaintiffs attorneys, so issuers should focus on certain categories of consumer complaints and some compliance ambiguities, say Rich Zukowsky and Ella Beres at Davis Wright.
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RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.
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Comparing 5 Administrators' Mass Arbitration Procedures
Attorneys at DLA Piper compare the rules for mass arbitrations at five different arbitration providers — Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, American Arbitration Association, National Arbitration and Mediation, FedArb and New Era ADR — including their triggers, claim screening procedures, how and when they assess fees, and more.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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CrowdStrike Incident Highlights Third-Party Risk For Banks
The global business disruptions caused by CrowdStrike's faulty software update last month serves as a reminder that banks should assess operational and compliance risks associated with third-party service providers and create resiliency plans extending down to fourth- and fifth-level providers, says Craig Landrum at Jones Walker.
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Considering Noncompete Strategies After Blocked FTC Ban
A Texas district court's recent decision in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission to set aside the new FTC rule banning noncompetes does away with some immediate compliance obligations, but employers should still review strategies, attend to changes to state laws and monitor ongoing challenges, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Key Concerns To Confront In FDIC Brokered Deposit Proposal
Banks and fintech companies should note several fundamental issues with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to widen how it classifies brokered deposits, an attempt to limit prudential risk that could expose the industry and underbanked consumers who rely on bank-fintech apps to widespread unintended consequences, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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4 Steps To Address New Sanctions Time Bar Extension
Recent guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control clarifies details of the newly extended statute of limitations for civil and criminal enforcement of U.S. sanctions law, so compliance teams should implement key updates, including to lookback periods and recordkeeping policies, say attorneys at Freshfields.