Consumer Protection

  • July 25, 2025

    Big Tech's Refusal-To-Deal Defense Hits A Wall: Judges

    Apple couldn't do it. Google couldn't do it. Live Nation couldn't do it. CoStar couldn't do it at the Ninth Circuit. Companies accused of monopolization have continually tried to flip allegations of illegally locking in customers into hard-to-prove "refusal-to-deal" litigation.

  • July 25, 2025

    What To Watch As Attys Brace For 401(k) Private Equity Order

    Benefits and asset management attorneys are anticipating an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at expanding access to private equity investments in 401(k) plans, a potential move that's stoking excitement about added investment options and concerns about legal risks. Here are four things on experts' minds as they wait to see if the order materializes.

  • July 25, 2025

    Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?

    When legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?

  • July 25, 2025

    Judge Rejects FTC Comments In Amazon Defense

    A Washington federal judge rejected Amazon's bid to use the Federal Trade Commission's own statements against it in the agency's suit over allegedly deceptive "dark patterns" preventing consumers from unsubscribing from Amazon Prime, saying the e-commerce giant misrepresented the commission's old comments.

  • July 25, 2025

    Crypto Group Appoints Ex-Legal Chief, Willkie Alum As CEO

    A Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP alum will become the Crypto Council for Innovation's permanent leader after serving as acting CEO since December and previously serving as chief legal and policy officer.

  • July 25, 2025

    Iowa Urges 8th Circ. To Undo Block On E-Cig Law

    Iowa's Department of Revenue is urging the Eighth Circuit to overturn a lower judge's ruling that blocked enforcement of a new state law that would have restricted the sale of some e-cigarettes in the Hawkeye State.

  • July 24, 2025

    FCC Signs Off On Skydance's $8B Acquisition Of Paramount

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave the green light to Skydance Media's controversial $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global and its subsidiaries, including CBS' parent company, setting aside concerns that the deal will hurt competition.

  • July 24, 2025

    Tyson's $55M Delaware Win Won't Aid Ga. Suit, Rival Says

    Poultry rendering company American Proteins Inc. told a Georgia federal judge Wednesday that a Delaware court's award of $55 million to Tyson Foods for overpaying to acquire the company has no bearing on their antitrust suit over whether Tyson forced the buyout through strong-arm tactics.

  • July 24, 2025

    'May The Flow Be With You': Meta Team Made Menstrual Jokes

    A Meta legal vice president defending the company in a California federal trial over allegations it illegally gathers users' data from menstrual-tracking app Flo acknowledged Thursday that members of Meta's communications team made "inappropriate" menstruation-related jokes while discussing the issue, with one employee telling another: "May the flow be with you."

  • July 24, 2025

    NJ Atty To Pay SEC Fine Over Alleged Prime Bank Fraud Role

    A New Jersey attorney and a California man will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a total of $134,000 as part of agreements to resolve the regulator's allegations they helped bilk an older couple out of over $150,000 through a so-called prime bank scheme. 

  • July 24, 2025

    7th Circ. Erases Class Cert. Over Progressive's Car Valuation

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday reversed a policyholder's class certification win against Progressive Insurance over certain adjustments the insurer makes when calculating a totaled vehicle's actual cash value, finding that whether Progressive paid insureds the proper amount is a primarily individualized inquiry.

  • July 24, 2025

    Logan Paul's Bid In CryptoZoo Suit Not Yet Ripe, Judge Says

    Media personality Logan Paul shouldn't be able to pin the collapse of his CryptoZoo project on the "empty chairs" of his co-founders for the time being, a Texas magistrate judge has counseled.

  • July 24, 2025

    Wash. AG Sues Contractor To Keep Benefits Data From Feds

    Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown launched a lawsuit in Evergreen State court on Thursday seeking to block a fintech contractor from providing the federal government with the private details of food assistance benefit recipients, saying the Trump administration intends to use the data for its "mass deportation project."

  • July 24, 2025

    More Sinclair Stations Reach Consent Decrees On Kid TV Ads

    Broadcasters in three states reached consent decrees with the Federal Communications Commission following a wider enforcement action against Sinclair Broadcast Group over Hot Wheels commercials aired during a children's Hot Wheels program in violation of FCC rules.

  • July 24, 2025

    Roblox Wants To Escape Suit Alleging It Tracked Kids' Data

    A lawsuit accusing Roblox of harvesting users' personal data despite knowing many of them are under the age of 13 is an attempt to distort and weaponize privacy statutes, the online gaming platform has told a California federal judge in a bid to have the case dismissed.

  • July 24, 2025

    Commission Inflation Suit Spurs COVID Tolling Query In Conn.

    A Connecticut judge on Thursday questioned a real estate firm's argument that two antitrust suit plaintiffs misused a COVID-era executive order to enter the case after the statute of limitations would have expired, indicating she was concerned about the broad impact her ruling might have if she found the pandemic-era tolling unconstitutional.

  • July 24, 2025

    FCC Sheds Rules For Older Tech As Axing Other Regs Proceed

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday jettisoned some older rules applying to technologies that have fallen out of general use and asserted the power to wield an expedited procedure in the future to get rid of other rules it deems outdated.

  • July 24, 2025

    Sun Pharma Settles Consumer Price Fixing Case For $200M

    Sun Pharmaceuticals has agreed to a $200 million settlement with a class of consumers who claim that the company joined other generics makers in fixing drug prices.

  • July 24, 2025

    Magistrate Says DR Horton Refused To Hear Accessibility Ask

    A magistrate judge in Texas federal court endorsed claims that homebuilder D.R. Horton refused to consider adding accessibility features to single-family houses under construction, while finding another claim brought by three plaintiffs and a fair housing group is reserved only for multifamily properties.

  • July 24, 2025

    Conn. Water Cos. Want Judge To Toss Customer PFAS Cases

    The Connecticut Water Co. and Aquarion Water Co. on Thursday asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to dismiss two consumer proposed class actions seeking cash damages for tap water allegedly contaminated with PFAS "forever chemicals," arguing the case should have been first considered by a state regulatory agency.

  • July 24, 2025

    Groups Say Google Shirks EU Mandate To Allow App Deletion

    Advocacy groups asked European Union antitrust enforcers on Thursday to investigate Google's parent company, Alphabet, accusing the technology giant of "an open attempt to circumvent" EU law requiring designated technology "gatekeepers" to permit users to uninstall apps easily.

  • July 24, 2025

    New FCC Auction Criticized For Lack Of Tribal Window

    The Federal Communications Commission pushed ahead with a new auction of the airwaves Thursday, but its rejection of a tribal "priority" window led to criticism from one FCC member.

  • July 24, 2025

    Fintech Orgs. Urge Trump Admin To Back Open Banking Rule

    A coalition of fintech and crypto industry groups on Thursday called on the Trump administration to defend the open banking rule in an ongoing legal challenge after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sided with banking trade groups to argue the data-sharing mandate exceeded its authority.

  • July 24, 2025

    Novo Nordisk Resolves Ozempic TM Suit Against Drugmaker

    Novo Nordisk has settled claims of trademark infringement and unfair trade practices against Connecticut drugmaker LIVation LLC over the latter's comparisons of its compounded drugs to the Danish pharmaceutical company's Ozempic medication.

  • July 24, 2025

    Texas Hemp Group Blasts New Legislative Proposal

    A Texas hemp industry advocate has slammed a second effort by the state Senate to ban all consumable products containing THC, saying residents want "smart, responsible regulation," not "prohibition."

Expert Analysis

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Business Takeaways Following CCPA Enforcement Actions

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    Advisories and recent enforcement activity by the California Privacy Protection Agency against Honda and Todd Snyder underscore the agency's enforcement interest in the intersection of data minimization and consumer rights, and could make it more challenging for a business to provide a streamlined consumer rights process, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Compliance Lessons From 1st-Ever Product Safety Sentences

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    A California federal judge’s recent sentencing of two former Gree USA executives in a landmark Consumer Product Safety Act case serves as a reminder of the federal government’s willingness to pursue criminal prosecution of individuals who fail to report safety hazards, as well as companies’ need to strengthen their reporting and compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • 9th Circ. Decisions Help Clarify Scope Of Legal Lab Marketing

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    Two Ninth Circuit decisions last week provide a welcome development in clarifying the line between laboratories' legal marketing efforts and undue influence that violates the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, and offer useful guidance for labs seeking to mitigate enforcement risk, says Joshua Robbins at Buchalter.

  • Feds' Shift On Reputational Risk Raises Questions For Banks

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    While banking regulators' recent retreat from reputational risk narrows the scope of federal oversight in some respects, it also raises practical questions about consistency, reputational management and the evolving political landscape surrounding financial services, say attorneys at Smith Anderson.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • FTC Staff Cuts Unlikely To Curb Antitrust Enforcement Agenda

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    While Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson's recent commitment to reducing agency staff may seem at odds with the Trump administration's commitment to antitrust enforcement, a closer analysis shows that such reductions have little chance of derailing the president's efforts, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • 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.

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