Consumer Protection

  • March 24, 2025

    'Powering' Algorithm Not Enough To Merit Price-Fixing Claim

    A California federal judge gave short shrift Friday to consumers' proposed class action price-fixing allegations against software provider SAS Institute Inc., which allegedly created a shared pricing algorithm that Hilton, Hyatt and other major chains used to fix and raise room rates nationwide.

  • March 24, 2025

    Judges Question T-Mobile Over Skipping Jury Trial

    Judges from the D.C. Circuit on Monday questioned why T-Mobile and Sprint didn't exercise their right to challenge the Federal Communications Commission's $92 million combined fine for selling subscriber locations in a jury trial, suggesting that option may have been more fruitful than paying the fine and going to appellate court.

  • March 24, 2025

    Trump Asks High Court To Halt Fed. Workers' Reinstatement

    The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to pause a California federal court order reinstating tens of thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired from six agencies, arguing the band of nonprofit groups that obtained the order have no standing to challenge the firings.

  • March 24, 2025

    NC High Court OKs Fee Suit Over Campus COVID Closures

    The North Carolina Supreme Court has kept alive a proposed class action over student fees paid to public universities whose campuses shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding sovereign immunity doesn't bar the students' breach of contract claims.

  • March 24, 2025

    NYC Shops' Suit Over Pot Crackdown Tossed

    A New York federal judge has thrown out a suit by 27 businesses alleging that New York City violated due process by shutting some of them down as illegal cannabis operations, saying not only did the shops have the opportunity to be heard in an impartial hearing, but several of them were allowed to reopen following those hearings.

  • March 22, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Non-Delegation & Clean Air Fights

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to hear arguments in a dispute that could revive a long-dormant separation of powers principle and trigger a regulatory power shift. 

  • March 21, 2025

    Only FDIC Can Sue Over Signature Bank Collapse, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge on Friday tossed a shareholder lawsuit over alleged misstatements about Signature Bank's health ahead of its 2023 collapse, saying shareholders lacked standing to sue in light of the FDIC being a receiver of both the failed bank's assets and rights of the bank's stockholders.

  • March 21, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Pause Order To Reinstate Federal Workers

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday refused to pause a Maryland federal judge's restraining order requiring the reinstatement of thousands of probationary workers who were fired from 18 federal agencies.

  • March 21, 2025

    11th Circ. Declines To Disturb Tesla Crash Suit Dismissal

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday affirmed a Florida federal court's dismissal of a Tesla battery deflect suit brought by the father of a teenager killed in a crash, ruling there is no evidence the teen would have survived but for the lack of a fire retardant in the car's batteries.

  • March 21, 2025

    7th Circ.'s Sykes' Top Rulings Before Senior Judge Transition

    Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Diane Sykes of the Seventh Circuit has let her voice be heard on major issues that faced courts during her time at the top, writing important rulings that have advanced biometric privacy litigation, kept Wisconsin's mandatory bar membership intact and curbed a "copyright troll" from crowding dockets with questionable suits. 

  • March 21, 2025

    NJ AG Says Landlord Discriminated Against Low-Income Renters

    The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights has found probable cause that the owner of a Garden State apartment complex and its leasing agent allegedly discriminated against poor tenants through illegal minimum-income requirements, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Friday.

  • March 21, 2025

    NY AG Notches Another Data Security Deal With Auto Insurer

    Root Insurance Co. will pay $975,000 to resolve the New York attorney general's claims that the company failed to protect driver's license numbers and other personal information swept up in a hacking campaign targeting online rate quote tools, marking the fourth settlement that the regulator has reached with auto insurers over alleged data security failings. 

  • March 21, 2025

    SEC Crypto Roundtable Puts 'Howey' To The Test

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought a dozen cryptocurrency legal experts together on Friday to wrestle with how to define security status for digital assets, and their in-depth discussion left the regulator with more questions or suggestions than agreed-upon definitions.

  • March 21, 2025

    NJ, Pa. Claims Over Amazon Price Hike Project Cut For Good

    Pennsylvania and New Jersey's attorneys general's efforts to shore up state law claims in the Federal Trade Commission monopolization lawsuit against Amazon.com failed after a Washington federal judge found nothing "unconscionable" about a project that matches rivals' price increases or deceptive about its concealment.

  • March 21, 2025

    Amazon Beats Consumer's Suit Over Late Delivery Again

    A Washington federal judge on Friday permanently threw out a proposed class action accusing Amazon of breaking scheduled delivery promises, finding that the e-commerce giant did not engage in deception by requiring customers to request shipping fee refunds for packages that arrive after a guaranteed time.

  • March 21, 2025

    DC Circ. Won't Halt Revamp Of Public Safety Spectrum

    The D.C. Circuit has denied requests from two sheriffs' groups and the San Francisco transit system to delay the Federal Communications Commission's order revamping the 4.9 gigahertz spectrum band, which is heavily used by public safety organizations.

  • March 21, 2025

    Texas Regulator Says Scammers Recruited Game Developers

    The Texas State Securities Board entered an emergency cease-and-desist order to stop offers of an allegedly fraudulent blockchain token called Apertum, saying its creators successfully recruited developers behind "Grand Theft Auto V" to launch a new game requiring the purchase of the token.

  • March 21, 2025

    Buyers' Gripe Is With Timber Sector, Not Charmin, P&G Says

    A false advertising lawsuit accusing Procter & Gamble of overhyping the forest-friendly bona fides of Charmin toilet paper should be dismissed, the company told a Washington federal judge, arguing that the buyers' suit is misdirected at P&G when their actual disappointment is with the "forestry industry."

  • March 21, 2025

    Meta Defends Need For Current Data In FTC Case

    Meta Platforms Inc. told a D.C. federal court the company should be able to use the most recent data it has during next month's trial in the Federal Trade Commission's case accusing the Facebook parent company of monopolizing personal social networking.

  • March 21, 2025

    Boeing's Ex-CEOs, Suppliers Escape 737 Max Family's Claims

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday dismissed a suit from an Ethiopian Airlines crash victim's family alleging former Boeing CEOs were personally liable for the company's negligence, holding the complaint lacks facts regarding what the CEOs knew about the jet's overall safety after another crash five months earlier.

  • March 21, 2025

    FCC Probes Chinese Cos. For Alleged Illicit US Operations

    The Federal Communications Commission on Friday launched a new inquiry into Huawei, ZTE and other companies linked to the Chinese government examining whether they are still operating in the U.S. in violation of restrictions meant to curtail their operations here.

  • March 21, 2025

    Loan Servicer Faces 'Zombie Mortgage' Truth In Lending Suit

    A mortgage loan servicer that allegedly tried to charge a North Carolina borrower $160,000 for a mortgage he discharged in bankruptcy during the Great Recession got hit with a proposed federal class action accusing it and a trust that purportedly attempted to foreclose his house of violating the Truth in Lending Act.

  • March 21, 2025

    CFPB Says Comerica Trying To Forestall Agency Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a Texas federal judge on Friday that Comerica Bank was merely trying to use a lawsuit against the agency to forestall an enforcement action over the bank's handling of a government benefit card program.

  • March 21, 2025

    Evenflo To Pay $3.5M In Booster Seat MDL Settlement

    Parents who purchased "Big Kid" vehicle booster seats are asking a Boston federal judge to grant preliminary approval on a $3.5 million deal that would end multidistrict litigation against baby product maker Evenflo Co., which was accused of overstating the safety of its boosters.

  • March 21, 2025

    Dems Call On Trump To Reinstate Axed FTC Commissioners

    A pair of top House Democrats called on President Donald Trump on Friday to reinstate the fired Democratic commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission because their firing was a "clear violation of the law."

Expert Analysis

  • Virginia AI Bills Could Serve As Nationwide Model

    Author Photo

    If signed into law, two Virginia bills focused on regulating the use of high-risk AI systems in the private and public sectors have the potential to influence similar legislation in other states, as well as the compliance strategies of companies operating in the commonwealth and across the U.S., say attorneys at Woods Rogers.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

    Author Photo

    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • What Banks Need To Know About Trump's Executive Orders

    Author Photo

    While the numerous executive orders and memos from the last few weeks don't touch on many of the issues the banking industry expected the Trump administration to address, banks still need to pay attention to the flurry of orders from strategic, compliance and operational perspectives, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • 6 Tips For Cos. To Comply With Influencer Gifting Rules

    Author Photo

    A January decision in a National Advertising Division case concerning Revolve Group provides new insights on how the NAD expects companies to manage certain influencer campaigns, including preapproving posts before they go live and considering how they present the disclosure instructions to influencers, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • 4 Potential Effects Of 3rd Circ.'s Coinbase Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit's recent landmark decision in Coinbase v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the SEC's refusal to engage in rulemaking to clarify its stance on crypto enforcement was "insufficiently reasoned" could have wide-ranging impacts, including on other cases, legislation and even the SEC's reputation itself, says Daniel Payne at Cole-Frieman.

  • Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses

    Author Photo

    In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • CFPB's Message To States Takes On New Weight Under Trump

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's January guidance to state enforcers has fresh significance as the Trump administration moves to freeze the bureau's work, and industry should expect states to use this series of recommendations as an enforcement road map, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

    Author Photo

    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • What NHTSA's Autonomous Vehicle Proposal Means For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recently proposed framework for review and oversight of vehicles equipped with automated driving systems offers companies a more flexible, streamlined approach to regulatory approvals for AVs, including new exemption pathways, assessments by independent experts and other innovations, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Tips For Pharma-Biotech Overlap Reporting In New HSR Form

    Author Photo

    While there’s no secret recipe for reporting overlaps to the Federal Trade Commission in the new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act form, there are several layers of considerations for all pharma-biotech companies and counsel to reflect on internally before reporting on any deal, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • Complying With Calif. Price-Gouging Law After LA Fires

    Author Photo

    The recent tragic Los Angeles fires have brought attention to the state's sometimes controversial price-gouging protections, and every California business should keep the law's requirements in mind, despite the debate over whether these statutes help consumers, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

    Author Photo

    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • Aviation Watch: Litigation Liabilities After DC Air Tragedy

    Author Photo

    While it will likely take at least a year before the National Transportation Safety Board determines a probable cause for the Jan. 29 collision between a helicopter and a jet over Washington, D.C., the facts so far suggest the government could face litigation claims, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • How Cos. Can Use Data Clean Rooms To Address Privacy

    Author Photo

    Implementing comprehensive administrative controls, security processes and vendor management systems are vital steps for businesses leveraging data clean rooms for privacy compliance, especially given the Federal Trade Commission's warnings of complicated user privacy implications, say attorneys at Troutman.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Consumer Protection archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!