Consumer Protection

  • July 30, 2024

    Justices Urged To Certify Class Over Firm's Illegal Faxes

    A Georgia-based recruiting agency is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a Fourth Circuit ruling that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's fax machine definition is limited to standalone fax machines and does not include online fax services, saying the January decision creates a circuit split that needs settling.

  • July 30, 2024

    DOD Contractors Must Face Suit Over 'Made In U.S.A.' Label

    A pair of whistleblowers who claim that tourniquets and other medical equipment sold to the U.S. Department of Defense was mislabeled as "made in U.S.A." can continue with most of their False Claims Act suit against two contractors, a Pennsylvania federal judge said.

  • July 30, 2024

    Dominion Again Pushes DQ Bid For Ex-Overstock CEO Atty

    Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems are again urging a D.C. federal judge to disqualify a Michigan attorney from representing former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne in a defamation lawsuit, saying she and her client "lack any respect for the rule of law" and pose risks to Dominion employees.

  • July 30, 2024

    Pickleball Paddle Co. Says Error, Not Fraud, Led To 'False' Ads

    Joola-brand pickleball paddle maker Sport Squad Inc. is blasting accusations that it falsely marketed its equipment as approved for tournament play, instead blaming an administrative error that has given rise to a sprawling proposed class action.

  • July 30, 2024

    FTC, Career Step Pitch $43.5M Deal For Alleged Bogus Claims

    Career Step LLC, a for-profit online career training company, has struck a $43.5 million proposed settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission claims it targeted servicemembers and their spouses with deceptive advertising about its programs and the successes of its students.

  • July 30, 2024

    Financial Co. To Pay $20M To Resolve DOL Embezzlement Suit

    A financial planner agreed to pay $20 million to 17 retirement plans it manages to resolve a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Labor accusing it of improperly shuffling money between accounts and embezzling at least $5 million in plan assets, a filing in Pennsylvania federal court said.

  • July 30, 2024

    Texas, Meta Reach Historic $1.4B Deal In Biometric Data Suit

    The state of Texas has reached a historic $1.4 billion settlement with Meta Platforms Inc. in a lawsuit accusing the social media giant of illegally collecting Facebook users' biometric data through its now-discontinued facial recognition feature, attorneys for the state announced Tuesday.

  • July 29, 2024

    5th Circ. Pauses DOT's New 'Junk Fees' Rule Amid Review

    The Fifth Circuit on Monday agreed to temporarily block a U.S. Department of Transportation rule requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront while the appellate court reviews the rule, which has been challenged by major airlines and airline associations.

  • July 29, 2024

    Live Nation Judge Tightens In-House Counsel's Access To Docs

    A New York federal judge imposed new restrictions Monday on Live Nation in-house counsel's access to documents and testimony from witnesses from its rivals in the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit, tightening a days-old two-tiered system after hearing concerns from those competitors.

  • July 29, 2024

    9th Circ. Partly Revives BofA Customers' ATM Fee Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday partially reinstated a proposed class action alleging Bank of America charged out-of-network fees for balance inquiries customers said they didn't know they authorized on ATMs, finding customers can be charged under their contract only if it's clear they sought the information and initiated the transaction.

  • July 29, 2024

    Chemical Groups Say Chevron Sinks EPA Ethylene Oxide Rule

    A chemical company and two chemical associations are telling the D.C. Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision undermines the federal government's risk value for ethylene oxide, which they are challenging as being too high.

  • July 29, 2024

    CFPB Cites Thomas In New Bid To Transfer Late Fee Rule Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday took another whack at getting an industry-backed legal challenge to its $8 credit card late fee rule transferred from Texas federal court to Washington, D.C., this time drawing on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for a little rhetorical help.

  • July 29, 2024

    8th Circ. Urged To Ax FDIC's Multiple NSF Fee Guidance

    Minnesota state bankers have urged the Eighth Circuit to uphold their challenge to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guidance conscribing the use of non-sufficient funds fees, arguing a Minnesota federal judge was wrong to reject their case as premature.

  • July 29, 2024

    Making Broadcasters File Disaster Reports Not Wise, FCC Told

    Broadcasters say it's a bad idea for the Federal Communications Commission to force them to start reporting disaster-related outages to the agency like other communications companies are required to because it would distract them from reporting about whatever disaster is happening.

  • July 29, 2024

    FTC, Challengers, Their Backers Vie For Noncompetes' Fate

    The fate of the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban is on the line as the agency trades blows with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other challengers spread across three different federal courts, all now grappling with a decision last week providing important backing to the FTC's rulemaking authority.

  • July 29, 2024

    CFPB Says Lease-To-Own Co. Acima Misled Vulnerable Users

    Lease-to-own fintech company Acima had customers paying more than twice the retail price of home goods by deceptively locking them into high-cost "virtual rent-to-own" financing plans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged in a new lawsuit filed Friday in Utah federal court.

  • July 29, 2024

    Pole Owners Must Pay Half Of Upgrades, Advocacy Org. Says

    School and library advocates are calling for the Federal Communications Commission to follow Canada's lead in mandating that utility pole owners cover half the cost of upgrades for broadband equipment, saying that because both pole owners and broadband equipment attachers benefit from upgrades, they should share in the costs.

  • July 29, 2024

    Judge Blocks Medical Records Co.'s Anti-Bot Captchas

    A Maryland federal judge on Monday enjoined electronic medical records company PointClickCare from blocking nursing home analytics company Real Time Medical Systems from accessing patient data with automated bots, saying PCC's firewall wasn't justified by concerns over security or system speed.

  • July 29, 2024

    Charter Pays $15M To End FCC's Network Outage Probe

    Charter has agreed to shell out $15 million and create a novel cybersecurity program meant to resolve issues raised during a Federal Communications Commission probe of major network outages affecting 911 service, the FCC said Monday.

  • July 29, 2024

    MoneyGram Opposes CFPB, NY's 'Futile' Bid To Bolster Case

    MoneyGram told a New York federal judge that the state and federal regulators' bid to update their complaint against the remittance service is a "bad faith attempt" to "salvage" a case that should either be transferred to MoneyGram's home district of Texas or tossed entirely.

  • July 29, 2024

    DirecTV Calls Bundled Service Exemption For Fee Regs Unfair

    If the Federal Communication Commission decides to exclude bundled services from new rules it plans to put in place banning cable and satellite providers from charging early termination fees, satellite providers will be the only ones actually bound by the rules, DirecTV has told the agency.

  • July 29, 2024

    SEC Says Penny Stock CEO Lied About COVID-19 Deal

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday sued former penny stock company CEO Juan Campo for securities fraud, alleging he lied to investors about acquiring a Colombian cannabis company and about the company's development of a temperature screening device during the COVID-19 pandemic, among other things.

  • July 29, 2024

    Tenn. Republican Seeks To Block Net Neutrality In Senate

    Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is trying to gut the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules, mirroring an ongoing effort by House Republicans.

  • July 29, 2024

    Senate To Vote On Bills To Protect Kids Online

    The Senate is poised to vote on Tuesday on a package of two major bipartisan bills to protect children online that could represent a watershed moment in technology regulation.

  • July 29, 2024

    Ga. Auto Salvage Chain Hit With Suit Over Harassing Texts

    Pull-A-Part LLC on Friday was slapped with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court that accuses the Atlanta-based junkyard and auto salvage chain of sending unsolicited promotional text messages to consumers even after they asked to stop receiving them in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Data Breach Reporting Requirements Must Change In AI Age

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    Outdated data breach reporting laws are inadequate to protect consumers in the age of artificial intelligence, as AI’s ability to determine relationships coupled with its improvements to deepfake technology mean that the very definitions used in breach reporting laws are no longer sufficient, says Collin Walke at Hall Estill.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • What To Know As Children's Privacy Law Rapidly Evolves

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    If your business hasn't been paying attention to growing state and federal efforts to protect children online, now is the time to start — there is no sign of this regulation slowing down, and more aggressive enforcement actions are to be expected in the coming year, says Susan Rohol at Wilkie Farr.

  • What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs

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    As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Dissecting Treasury's Call For Input On AI In Financial Sector

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    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's request for comments on the potential benefits and challenges AI may pose to the financial services sector, which asks how stakeholders are addressing and mitigating increased fraud risks, reflects the federal government's continued interest in AI's effects across the economy, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Opinion

    The FTC Needs To Challenge The Novo-Catalent Deal

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    Novo's acquisition of Catalent threatens to substantially lessen competition in the manufacturing and marketing of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drugs, and the Federal Trade Commission should challenge it under a vertical theory of harm, as it aligns with last year's merger guidelines and the Fifth Circuit decision in Illumina, says attorney David Balto.

  • Md. Deal Highlights Consumer Finance Program Regulations

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    Maryland regulators’ recent settlement with the Bank of Missouri and its consumer lending partners, Atlanticus and Fortiva, offers a reminder that it is important to properly structure such partnerships and conduct sufficient due diligence on state licensing requirements, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry

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    Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Nat'l Security Considerations For Telecom Products Counsel

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    An increase in federal national security measures in the telecommunications space, particularly from the Federal Communications Commission, means that products counsel need to broaden their considerations as they advise on new products and services, says Laura Stefani at Venable.

  • Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

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    A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

  • Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.

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    The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.

  • Unpacking The Increasingly Popular Fair Credit Billing Act

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    The Fair Credit Billing Act is receiving increased attention from regulators and consumers disputing credit card charges, so creditors should understand its procedural requirements — including the law's focus on the mechanics of a dispute and its potential to create civil liability, say David Gettings and Courtney Hitchcock at Troutman Pepper.

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