Consumer Protection

  • June 18, 2024

    CFTC Awards $8M To Whistleblower Behind Multiple Actions

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced it awarded more than $8 million to an insider whistleblower who the agency said provided significant information that led to multiple enforcement actions from multiple agencies.

  • June 18, 2024

    Microsoft Says Starbucks Ruling Hurts FTC's Activision Case

    Microsoft told the Ninth Circuit on Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling requiring labor regulators to meet a four-factor test in order to win a preliminary injunction undercuts the Federal Trade Commission's bid to halt the company's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc.

  • June 18, 2024

    Democrats Punt On Spectrum Bill, Claiming GOP 'Obstruction'

    A Senate Democratic leader again delayed consideration of a bill Tuesday to renew the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction powers, saying the holdup was instigated by Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee.

  • June 18, 2024

    Apple Sanctioned In Siri Privacy Suit For Deleting Recordings

    A California federal judge has sanctioned Apple Inc. in a privacy lawsuit brought by Siri users who claim the voice-activated software records their conversations, finding the tech giant spoiled evidence by deleting key data, but that a jury should determine whether Apple deprived the users of the data intentionally.

  • June 18, 2024

    Split Pa. High Court Finds Rental Registry Suit Moot

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed out landlords' appeal of Pittsburgh's 2015 ordinance requiring them to list their rental units in a public registry, because it had been replaced by a newer, narrower law, but two justices said they should have ruled on the case anyway to settle whether other governments could pass similar measures.

  • June 18, 2024

    Rival Pool Supply Co. Looks To Duck Blueworks Ch. 11 Stay

    Pool supply company Hayward Industries Inc. has asked a bankruptcy court for a reprieve from the automatic stay protecting its bankrupt rival Blueworks Corp. as it seeks to secure final orders upholding a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment.

  • June 18, 2024

    5th Circ. Keeps Suit Over CFPB's Card Late Fee Rule In Texas

    The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday ordered a banking industry lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's credit card late fee rule to remain in Texas federal court, rejecting a second attempted transfer of the case to Washington, D.C.

  • June 18, 2024

    Blue States And Enviro Groups Back DOE Furnace Rule

    Several blue states and environmental and consumer groups have thrown their support behind the U.S. Department of Energy's tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that challenges to the new rules are meritless.

  • June 18, 2024

    Frontier Airlines Passholder Suit To Be Arbitrated

    Frontier Airlines Inc. has successfully pushed out of court a proposed class action claiming its "All You Can Fly" passes are "relatively unusable," after a Colorado federal judge ruled that there is nothing "substantively unfair" about the arbitration clause to which the would-be passengers agreed.

  • June 18, 2024

    DOJ Says DC Circ. Shouldn't Rethink Realtor Antitrust Probe

    The U.S. Department of Justice has told the D.C. Circuit that its April decision allowing it to reopen an investigation into the National Association of Realtors doesn't conflict with any U.S. Supreme Court or circuit court decisions and that the NAR's rehearing petition should be denied.

  • June 18, 2024

    Noncustomers Cinch Settlement In Citibank Robocall Suit

    Citibank has reached a deal with a class of noncustomers who accused the bank of bombarding them with unauthorized robocalls, according to a notice filed in Arizona federal court, ending six years of litigation alleging Citibank had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • June 18, 2024

    Ford Says Sanctions Violated Due Process In $1.7B Case

    Attorneys for Ford Motor Co. urged the Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday either to order a new trial or substantially reduce a record-setting $1.7 billion punitive damages verdict returned against the automaker in litigation over a fatal rollover, arguing the award resulted from "death penalty sanctions" that essentially directed a verdict against it.

  • June 18, 2024

    FTC Escalates Probe Into TikTok's Privacy Measures For Kids

    The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday took the rare step of publicly disclosing its referral to the U.S. Department of Justice of a complaint against TikTok and its parent company over their compliance with a 2019 privacy settlement, saying there's "reason to believe" that the companies are out of step with their pledge to protect children on the platform.

  • June 18, 2024

    Novant Drops NC Hospital Merger After 4th Circ. Pauses Deal

    Novant Health has abandoned its plans to purchase two North Carolina hospitals for $320 million after a split Fourth Circuit panel on Tuesday granted the Federal Trade Commission's bid for an emergency injunction putting the deal on hold indefinitely.

  • June 18, 2024

    Chicago Cubs Will Pay $1.2 Million To End TCPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge granted final approval Monday to a $1.2 million settlement that resolves litigation accusing the Chicago Cubs of sending persistent marketing text messages that violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • June 18, 2024

    Ariz. County Says New Kari Lake Vote Claims Merit Sanctions

    Maricopa County officials are slamming former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's bid to unravel a Ninth Circuit decision affirming the toss of her lawsuit over Arizona's voting machines, contending that the "fatally flawed" effort warrants sanctions.

  • June 18, 2024

    Restitution Plan For Lead-Test Defects Leaves Judge Uneasy

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday questioned the legality of a plan to have a claims administrator, rather than the court, oversee victim compensation in a criminal case alleging Magellan Diagnostics hid information about inaccurate results in its lead-testing devices.

  • June 17, 2024

    'What Am I Supposed To Do?': Epic-Apple Doc Row Irks Judge

    A California federal judge presiding over Epic Games' high-stakes antitrust compliance fight against Apple expressed frustration Monday with the parties' disagreement over the scope of Apple's document production, asking counsel repeatedly "What am I supposed to do?" and "Do I need to get somebody on the stand to explain this?"

  • June 17, 2024

    Calif. Becomes Last State To Ink Deal Over Blackbaud Breach

    Blackbaud Inc. has agreed to pay $6.75 million to resolve data security claims brought by California's attorney general, who was the only one to sit out a nearly $50 million settlement that the software provider reached last year with every other state over a 2020 ransomware attack that affected thousands of its customers.

  • June 17, 2024

    Milbank Snags FTC Competition Trial Chief For DC Office

    Milbank LLP announced Monday it has hired the chief trial counsel for the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition, bulking up its Washington, D.C., antitrust and competition practice with a veteran litigator who led the government's challenge to Microsoft Corp.'s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

  • June 17, 2024

    FTC Says Adobe Uses Fee To Trap Consumers In Subscription

    Adobe Inc. has for years deceived customers by keeping them in the dark about an early termination fee for its most lucrative subscription plan, making it difficult to cancel and trapping consumers in subscriptions they no longer want, the Federal Trade Commission alleged Monday.

  • June 17, 2024

    CFPB Reaches $7M Deal In Suit Over Ex-Exec's Money Moves

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday that it will accept $7 million from a former online loan executive and his wife to resolve a Kansas federal court lawsuit in which the agency accuses them of trying to keep millions more dollars out of the agency's reach.

  • June 17, 2024

    Teamsters Plan Says Health Network Has Monopoly In Conn.

    A Teamsters healthcare benefits plan and a Connecticut public transit provider have sued the healthcare network Hartford Healthcare Corp., accusing it of having a monopoly over healthcare in a half-dozen regions of the state.

  • June 17, 2024

    T-Mobile To Consider Changing 'Price Lock' Ads After Dispute

    T-Mobile said it will look into modifying "Price Lock" advertising claims after AT&T told the National Advertising Division that the ads mislead consumers by suggesting that T-Mobile locks in a certain price, when it only offers a free month of home internet service under certain conditions if the price goes up.

  • June 17, 2024

    US Surgeon General To Seek Warning Label On Social Media

    U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy has called on lawmakers to require social media companies to put warnings on their sites that say young people who use them have more mental health issues, according to an opinion article published on Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • Circumstantial Evidence Requires A Pointillist Approach

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    Because complex cases with sophisticated defendants are unlikely to reveal much, if any, direct evidence, attorneys must aggregate many pieces of circumstantial evidence into a cohesive narrative — much like the painting technique of pointillism, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Questions Persist After Ruling Skirts $925M TCPA Award Issue

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    After an Oregon federal court's recent Wakefield v. ViSalus ruling that the doctrine of constitutional avoidance precluded it from deciding whether a $925 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act damages award was constitutionally sound, further guidance is needed on when statutory damages violate due process, says Michael Klotz at O'Melveny.

  • Benzene Contamination Concerns: Drugmakers' Next Steps

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    After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Blocked JetBlue-Spirit Deal Illustrates New Antitrust Approach

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent successful block of a merger between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines demonstrates antitrust enforcers’ updated and disparate approach to out-of-market benefits versus out-of-market harms, say Lisa Rumin and Anthony Ferrara at McDermott.

  • Back Labels In False Ad Cases Get Some Clarity In 9th Circ.

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    Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product's package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Series

    Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    Early 2024 developments that could have a notable impact on Florida's finance community include progress on a bill that would substantially revise the state Securities and Investor Protection Act, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule capping late fees for larger credit card issuers, say Benjamin Weinberg and Megan Riley at Leon Cosgrove.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    The first quarter of 2024 saw a number of notable legal and regulatory developments that will significantly affect New York's financial services industry, including the New York Department of Financial Services' finalized novel guidance directing banks to continuously monitor the character and fitness of key personnel, say Brian Montgomery and Nathan Lewko at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    Federal MDL Rule Benefits From Public Comments

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    The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • Opinion

    Aviation Watch: Not All Airline Mergers Hurt The Public

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's actions to block recent attempted airline mergers have been touted as serving the interests of the consumers — but given the realities of the deregulated air travel market, a tie-up like the one proposed between JetBlue and Spirit might have been a win for the public, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting

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    While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • How Banks Should Respond To Calif. AG's Overdraft Warning

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    Banks and credit unions should heed recent guidance from California’s attorney general, along with warnings by consumer regulators of all stripes, regarding unfair fee practices by properly disclosing their fees and practices, and ensuring the amounts charged mirror federal benchmarks, say Brett D. Watson and Madeline Suchard at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Cos. Should Prepare For Foreign Data Transfer Regulations

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    A new regulatory regime designed to protect U.S. sensitive data from countries of concern may complicate an already intricate geopolitical landscape and affect even companies beyond the data industry, but with careful preparation, such companies can endeavor to minimize the effect on their business operations and ensure compliance, say David Plotinsky and Jiazhen Guo at Morgan Lewis.

  • Climate Disclosure Mandates Demand A Big-Picture Approach

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    As carbon emissions disclosure requirements from the European Union, California and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission take effect, the best practice for companies is not targeted compliance with a given reporting regime, but rather a comprehensive approach to systems assessment and management, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

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