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Consumer Protection
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July 11, 2024
Oil Giants Defeat City Of Baltimore's Climate Change Claims
A Maryland judge has dismissed Baltimore's suit seeking climate change-related damages from oil companies including Chevron, Exxon and BP, ruling that the city's claims stem from a global phenomenon and thus are "beyond the limits of Maryland state law."
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July 11, 2024
Premium Baby Bottles Leach Microplastics, Suit Says
A proposed class action filed against Newell Brands Inc. this week alleges that the company's Nuk brand of baby bottles, advertised as BPA-free, are, in fact, prone to leaching millions of particles of microplastics through routine use.
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July 11, 2024
Feds Seek Input On 37 GHz Sharing Plans
Federal regulators intend to ask for the public's input in August about a possible revamp of the lower 37 gigahertz airwaves, the U.S. Department of Commerce said.
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July 11, 2024
ISP Group Says FCC Remote Learning Plan On Shaky Ground
Internet service providers say the Federal Communications Commision needs to revisit a proposal to fund Wi-Fi hot spots for students after the U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the Chevron doctrine, which gave wide judicial deference to agencies.
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July 11, 2024
Media Matters Fights Texas AG's Bid To Revive X Probe
Media Matters for America is urging the D.C. Circuit to keep intact a court order prohibiting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating the media watchdog over its reporting about the social media platform X, asserting that the D.C. courts are the correct place to litigate the "retaliatory" probe.
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July 11, 2024
Frontier Communications Fined $2.5M Over Quality Standards
Connecticut's utility regulator has ordered Frontier Communications to pay nearly $2.5 million in penalties after finding that the company repeatedly violated mandates for maintenance, repair of service problems and filing reports with the state dating back to 2015.
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July 11, 2024
Top NC Legal Industry Legislation Of 2024: A Midyear Report
North Carolina lawmakers have instituted a streamlined process for state business court filings and are eying controls on attorney fees for debt collection lawsuits. Another closely watched measure eases the discipline process for attorneys with the expansion of records access and the ability to expunge certain ethics transgressions.
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July 11, 2024
Hershey, Walgreens Sued For 'One Chip Challenge' Death
The Hershey Co. and its businesses that created and negligently marketed the "One Chip Challenge" to eat an ultra-spicy tortilla chip are responsible for the wrongful death of a Massachusetts 14-year-old, whose death coincided with the product being pulled from the shelves, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the boy's mother.
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July 11, 2024
Paxos Says SEC Won't Bring Case Over Binance Stablecoin
Crypto trust company Paxos said Thursday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has told the firm it won't face an enforcement action over its issuance of crypto exchange Binance's stablecoin, BUSD.
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July 11, 2024
Fiat Chrysler Says Exploding Minivan MDL Still Lacks Detail
A Stellantis unit has asked a federal judge in Michigan to significantly pare back multidistrict litigation over a risk of spontaneous explosion in certain Chrysler plug-in hybrid minivans, arguing that many drivers' state claims are stale or are otherwise legally flawed.
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July 11, 2024
Calif. Customers Sue Toyota Over Hydrogen Fuel Scarcity
Toyota customers in California have slapped the automaker with a proposed class action complaint, saying the scarcity of hydrogen fuel available for their Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles has rendered them "unsafe, unreliable and inoperable."
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July 11, 2024
GM's $50M Faulty Fuel Pump Deal Gets Early OK
A Michigan federal judge on Thursday indicated he would give the initial approval to a $50 million settlement to end class claims that General Motors LLC sold trucks with faulty fuel pumps, clearing the way for GM to drop a Sixth Circuit appeal.
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July 11, 2024
Coca-Cola Faces Revised Suit Over PFAS In Juice Products
A New York man has hit Coca-Cola and its Simply Orange Juice Co. subsidiary with a revised proposed class action alleging they deceptively market juices as pure, healthy and all-natural when they actually contain harmful, man-made forever chemicals.
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July 11, 2024
Engineering Co. Seeks Coverage Of Deal In $80M Suit
An engineering and design firm said its insurer must reimburse it for a settlement reached in an $80 million unfair business practice lawsuit, telling a Nebraska federal court the insurer wrongfully denied coverage, forcing the firm to defend itself.
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July 11, 2024
House Vote Fails To Quash Veto Of SEC Crypto Accounting Bill
The U.S. House on Thursday failed to override President Joe Biden's veto of a bill that sought to roll back controversial crypto accounting guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after Democrats urged members to stick by the president.
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July 11, 2024
EPA Grants Petition On Plastic Container PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday granted a petition asking it to address several so-called forever chemicals formed during the fluorination of plastic containers for a variety of household and industrial uses.
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July 10, 2024
Santa Clara Hospital Can't Fully Shake Online Tracking Suit
A California federal judge has refused to toss a proposed class action accusing Santa Clara Valley Medical Center of unlawfully sharing sensitive data with Meta and Google through online tracking tools embedded in its website and patient portal, rejecting the contention that the plaintiff had consented to these disclosures by agreeing to policies required to use the services.
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July 10, 2024
Pledging 'Accountability,' Biden's FDIC Pick Faces Senate Test
President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to stress her regulatory credentials and determination to fix the agency's troubled work culture when she goes before a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday for a confirmation hearing.
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July 10, 2024
Synapse Credit's Finance Lending License Pulled In California
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation on Wednesday revoked the financing lending license of Synapse Credit LLC, a subsidiary of Synapse Financial Technologies, whose April bankruptcy resulted in thousands of customers losing access to their accounts and funds.
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July 10, 2024
CFTC Says Internal Criticism 'Not Relevant' To Sanctions Bid
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission says that criticism leveled against it by one of its own members is "not relevant" to the agency's case against a foreign exchange firm accused of a $300 million fraud and has asked a New Jersey federal court not to consider the comments in deciding whether to issue sanctions against the regulator.
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July 10, 2024
SEC Exchange Plan Can't Stand Post-Chevron, Uniswap Says
Decentralized finance firm Uniswap Labs is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not to adopt a rule that could force it and other cryptocurrency trading platforms to register with the agency as securities exchanges, saying the rule will not survive a legal challenge now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Chevron deference.
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July 10, 2024
FCC Says Nearly Half 'Rip And Replace' Providers Can't Finish
The Federal Communications Commission said the agency is going to need another $3 billion if it's to keep its promise to reimburse all the companies who agreed to rip out and replace their Chinese-made technology to alleviate security concerns.
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July 10, 2024
BofA Trims But Can't Beat Autopay Cancellation Suit
A California federal judge trimmed a proposed class action against Bank of America, alleging it failed to tell consumers their autopay settings would be canceled if they did not continuously use their credit cards, agreeing with the bank that the Consumers Legal Remedies Act does not apply to credit cards.
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July 10, 2024
FTC Must Think Hard Before Trying More Rules, Commish Says
One of the Federal Trade Commission's recently confirmed Republican commissioners called on the agency Wednesday to take a close look at how courts handle its ban on employment noncompete clauses before considering any further attempts at pushing the bounds of its regulatory authority.
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July 10, 2024
Major Cable Group Opposes FirstNet Bid For 4.9 GHz Manager
Cable trade group NCTA is urging the Federal Communications Commission to listen to the chorus of public safety groups who have been pushing hard against the idea of making AT&T's FirstNet the national manager of the 4.9 gigahertz public safety band.
Expert Analysis
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Expect CFPB Enforcement To Continue Ramping Up
From hiring and structural changes to continuous external pressure from a variety of sources, all signs indicate that the recent rise of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's public enforcement activity will continue throughout the rest of the year, despite ongoing litigation that could upend everything, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Opinion
High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures
The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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The Multifaceted State AG Response To New Technologies
In response to the growth of technologies like artificial intelligence, biometric data collection and cryptocurrencies across consumer-facing industries, state attorneys general are proactively launching enforcement and regulatory initiatives — including bipartisan investigations and new state AI legislation, say Ketan Bhirud and Emily Yu at Cozen O'Connor.
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5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS
The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.
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Handling Customer Complaints In Bank-Fintech Partnerships
As regulators mine consumer complaint databases for their next investigative targets, it is critical that fintech and bank partners adopt a well-defined and monitored process for ensuring proper complaint handling, including by demonstrating proficiency and following interagency guidance, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
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What NAR Settlement Means For Agent Commission Rates
If approved, a joint settlement agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a class of home sellers will likely take the onus off home sellers to compensate buyers' agents, affecting considerations for all parties to real estate transactions, say attorneys at Jones Foster.
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Opinion
New Mexico Fire Victims Deserve Justice From Federal Gov't
Two years after the largest fire in New Mexico's history — a disaster caused by the U.S. government's mismanagement of prescribed burns — the Federal Emergency Management Agency must remedy its grossly inadequate relief efforts and flawed legal interpretations that have left victims of the fire still waiting for justice, says former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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Decoding The FTC's Latest Location Data Crackdown
Following the Federal Trade Commission's groundbreaking settlements in its recent enforcement actions against X-Mode Social and InMarket Media for deceptive and unfair practices with regards to consumer location data, companies should implement policies with three crucial elements for regulatory compliance and maintaining consumer trust, says Hannah Ji-Otto at Baker Donelson.
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Series
Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
In the first quarter of 2024, Illinois lawmakers proposed a stack of bills aimed at modernizing money transmission, digital assets and banking laws, with a particular focus on improving consumer protections and better defining the state’s authority to regulate digital services, say James Morrissey and Mark Svalina at Vedder Price.
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Series
Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
The first quarter of the year brought the usual onslaught of new regulatory developments in California — including a crackdown on junk fees imposed by small business lenders, a big step forward for online notarizations and a ban on predatory listing agreements, says Alex Grigorians at Hanson Bridgett.
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Tipsters May Be Key To Financial Regulators' ESG Efforts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are looking to whistleblowers to assist their climate and ESG task forces, suggesting insider information could be central to the agencies' enforcement efforts against corporate greenwashing, false investment claims and climate disclosure violations, says John Crutchlow at Youman & Caputo.