Consumer Protection

  • July 28, 2025

    Merger Settlements Return As Enforcers Keep Busy

    The first half of 2025 saw a string of settlements by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice allowing mergers to move forward, a marked shift from the prior administration.

  • July 28, 2025

    Fair Housing Groups Win Thaw Of HUD Grant Program Freeze

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Monday ordered the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to unlock a grant program meant to help nonprofits enforce housing laws after two groups in a purported class complained that the Trump administration abruptly froze the funding.

  • July 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Kraft Heinz Suit Over Safety Complaints

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday overturned a win for Kraft Heinz Inc. in a suit by a former worker at a meatpacking plant who alleged that he'd been fired for reporting safety issues, saying the district court wrongly concluded that a separate disciplinary investigation was the sole reason he was terminated.

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Air Board Faces New Suit Over Carbon Fuel Standard

    Environmental and public interest groups hit the California Air Resources Board with another lawsuit in Golden State court Friday, alleging that the state's recent amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard will have the perverse effect of incentivizing large-scale factory farms, which pose significant environmental and public health risks.

  • July 25, 2025

    DC Circ. Pauses Order Reinstating 2 NCUA Members

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday intervened and granted the Trump administration's request to pause a Washington federal judge's order reinstating two National Credit Union Administration board members fired by President Donald Trump, after the federal judge declined to pause the order himself.

  • July 25, 2025

    Drivers Ask 9th Circ. To Revive Fiat Chrysler Gear Shift Suit

    Chrysler drivers are asking the Ninth Circuit to revive their proposed class action alleging defective gear shifters in Fiat Chrysler vehicles, in a bid to overcome a California federal court's finding that the injury is hypothetical.

  • July 25, 2025

    Sports & Betting Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    Certain court cases have become staples on both the midyear and end-of-year must-watch lists in sports and betting at Law360. One that seemed best positioned to finally fall off the list, as it turns out, is far from over: the multibillion-dollar NCAA settlement regarding name, image and likeness payments and revenue sharing with hundreds of thousands of college athletes. A handful of other suits from past years will also continue to bear watching through the end of 2025.

  • July 25, 2025

    Insurers Seek Quick Win Over Meta Social Media Suits

    Various Hartford and Chubb units told a Delaware state court they should have no duty to defend Meta Platforms Inc. in thousands of pending lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents, arguing there was no insurable "accident" that allegedly occurred.

  • July 25, 2025

    Ky. Radio License Yanked Over Mounting Reg Fee Bills

    The Federal Communications Commission has stripped the broadcaster of a Kentucky AM radio station of his license after the station racked up more than $9,000 in fines over the years and never paid them, the agency revealed Friday.

  • July 25, 2025

    Fluoride Fans Tell 9th Circ. To Preserve Drinking Water Use

    A pro-fluoride group is supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's fight to overturn a California federal judge's ruling that current limits on the chemical in drinking water aren't protective enough.

  • July 25, 2025

    Live Streaming Cos. Should Follow Carry-All Rules, FCC Told

    A Christian television station operator says that the Federal Communications Commission "has lost its way on its mandate to foster localism" and ought to correct course by requiring certain streaming services to carry local stations.

  • July 25, 2025

    Veteran CFPB Enforcement Atty Heads For The Exit

    A longtime Consumer Financial Protection Bureau litigator told a Virginia federal court on Friday that she is leaving after more than a decade at the agency, becoming the latest departure at the regulator as its future under the Trump administration remains in limbo.

  • July 25, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Review $3.2M Wawa Breach Fee Award

    The Third Circuit on Thursday won't revisit its prior decision upholding $3.2 million in fees to plaintiffs' counsel in a case that secured a $12 million deal for Wawa shoppers affected by a data breach after attorney Ted Frank argued the fees were disproportionate to the class' recovery.

  • July 25, 2025

    Minnesota Regulators Sue Retailer Over Cannabinoid Wares

    Minnesota's cannabis regulator has brought a state court action seeking an order compelling a retailer to destroy hemp-derived cannabinoid products that are allegedly noncompliant under the state's laws.

  • July 25, 2025

    FCC's Carr Looks To Wrap Up Next 4-Year Media Rule Review

    The Federal Communications Commission hopes to soon wrap up its latest four-year review of media ownership rules and likely loosen restrictions on broadcasters, Republican agency chief Brendan Carr says.

  • July 25, 2025

    Google Says Rival 'Indisputably' Too Late For Search Fix

    Google urged a D.C. federal judge Friday to ignore a search advertising rival's attempt to weigh in on the Justice Department's bid to force the syndication of search and search advertising results, castigating the "neither relevant nor useful" amicus brief as filed more than two months too late.

  • July 25, 2025

    Tesla Expert Says Autopilot Was Overridden Before Fatal Crash

    An accident reconstruction expert told jurors in Florida federal court Friday that the driver of the Tesla that caused a fatal crash in the Florida Keys had overridden the autopilot and was in control of the vehicle for the 75 seconds before the crash.

  • July 25, 2025

    Wash. Judge Tosses Costco Customer's Online Upcharge Suit

    A Washington state judge has thrown out a consumer's proposed class action accusing Costco of hidden markups on online purchases, saying Friday that the warehouse retailer's website is "extremely clear" that grocery prices are higher than they are in-store to cover packing and fulfillment costs.

  • July 25, 2025

    Feds End Probe Into Waymo Self-Driving Cars

    The U.S. auto safety regulator closed its preliminary investigation into reports of Waymo LLC's autonomous vehicles exhibiting "unexpected driving behaviors," saying Friday that it won't take any action after the company's recalls and software updates.

  • July 25, 2025

    FCC Won't Waive Surety Bond For NGSO Satellites

    The Federal Communications Commission said it won't waive surety bond requirements for the satellite license of an aerospace startup at the center of an alleged $250 million fraud scandal, rendering the license void since last year.

  • July 25, 2025

    Epic Defends Apple Antitrust Injunction After Birthright Ruling

    Epic Games has told the Ninth Circuit the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order should not affect a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order issued in its antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies, arguing Apple misread the high court's precedent.

  • July 25, 2025

    Coinbase Accuses German Of Illegally Squatting On URL

    A German man is wrongfully using an online URL to pose as the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and leveraging his ownership to get the company to buy the domain name at a high price, a new lawsuit in California federal court has alleged.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Disturb Class Cert. In 'Oil-Free' J&J Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday backed class certification in a suit alleging Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. misled consumers by advertising its Neutrogena face washes are "oil-free," rejecting its argument that the class's expert's damage calculation was faulty and underdeveloped.

  • July 25, 2025

    Univision To Pay $300K To Resolve FCC's Kid TV Ad Case

    Univision has agreed to a "voluntary contribution" of $300,000 to the U.S. Treasury to settle the Federal Communications Commission's investigations into the Spanish language network's compliance with rules limiting the amount of commercials that can be aired during children's TV programming.

  • July 25, 2025

    Nordstrom Tobacco Health Fee Violates ERISA, Ex-Staff Say

    Three ex-workers for Nordstrom Inc. hit the retailer with a proposed class action in Washington federal court, alleging a $40-a-month surcharge on the health plans of tobacco-using employees was discriminatory in violation of federal benefits law.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Expect As UK, US Gov'ts Develop Stablecoin Policies

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    While the U.K. and U.S. governments’ policies both suggest that fiat-backed stablecoins can improve efficiency and safety in payments systems, a perception that crypto-assets remain high risk means consumers are unlikely to use them in significant volume anytime soon, say lawyers at Cadwalader.

  • Challenging A Class Representative's Adequacy And Typicality

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    Recent cases highlight that a named plaintiff cannot certify a putative class action unless they can meet all the applicable requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so defendants should consider challenging a plaintiff's ability to meet typicality and adequacy requirements early and often, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • Yacht Broker Case Highlights Industry Groups' Antitrust Risk

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    The Eleventh Circuit recently revived class claims against the International Yacht Brokers Association, signaling that commission-driven industries beyond real estate are vulnerable to antitrust challenges after the National Association of Realtors settled similar allegations last year, says Miles Santiago at the Southern University Law Center and Alex Hebert at Southern Compass.

  • Opinion

    Juries Are Key In Protecting The Rule Of Law

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    Absent from the recent discourse about U.S. rule of law is the crucial role of impartial jurors in protecting the equitable administration of justice, and attorneys and judges should take affirmative steps to reverse the yearslong decline of jury trials at this critical moment, says consultant Clint Townson.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • What To Know About Bill Aiming To Curb CIPA

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    A bill pending in the California Assembly would amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act to allow for the use of website tracking technologies for commercial business purposes, limiting class actions seeking damages under the act for industry standard practices, say Katherine Alphonso and Avazeh Pourhamzeh at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Practical Implications Of SEC's New Crypto Staking Guidance

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent staff guidance that protocol staking does not constitute securities offerings provides a workable compliance blueprint for crypto developers, validators and custodial platforms willing to keep staking strictly limited to protocol-driven rewards, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • State Law Challenges In Enforcing Arbitration Clauses

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    In recent cases, state courts in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey have considered or endorsed heightened standards for arbitration agreements, which can mean the difference between a bilateral arbitration and a full-blown class action in court, says Fabien Thayamballi at Shapiro Arato.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • How To Strengthen A Case By Mastering Expert Witness Prep

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    A well-prepared expert witness can bolster a case's credibility with persuasive qualifications, compelling voir dire responses and concise testimony that can withstand cross-examination, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

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    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Georgia Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter brought a number of significant legislative and regulatory changes for Georgia banking, including an extension of the intangibles tax exemption for short-term notes, modernization of routine regulatory practices, and new guardrails against mortgage trigger leads, says Walter Jones at Balch & Bingham.

  • Capital One Deal Approval Lights Up Path For Bank M&A

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    The federal banking regulators' recent approval of Capital One's acquisition of Discover signals the agencies' willingness to approve large transactions and a more favorable environment generally for bank mergers under the Trump administration, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

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    One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

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