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Consumer Protection
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June 04, 2024
Telecom Org. Says Expanding Universal Fund Only Way To Go
The head of a major telecommunications industry group is urging Congress to tap big tech in order to keep the Universal Service Fund afloat, saying in a new article that "the solution to affordable connectivity is staring us in the face."
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June 04, 2024
DOJ Remains 'Clear Eyed' About No-Poach Prosecutions
A senior U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division prosecutor continued Tuesday to emphasize the importance of criminal cases accusing employers of fixing wages or curtailing recruitment and hiring of workers from rivals, asserting that despite courtroom defeats, enforcers are trying to learn from past failures.
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June 04, 2024
Meta, Texas Strike Deal To End State's Biometric Privacy Suit
Meta Platforms Inc. and Texas' attorney general have agreed to settle the state's suit accusing the social media giant of using its facial recognition technology to illegally collect Facebook users' biometric information without their consent, the parties told a state court.
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June 04, 2024
Fla. Biz Owners Indicted On Grant-Writing Fraud Conspiracy
Two northern Florida business owners have been federally indicted on fraud conspiracy-related charges in connection to a scheme in which they allegedly stole nearly $3 million from minority-owned companies by promising grant-writing services that were never delivered.
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June 04, 2024
10th Circ. Backs CPSC In Baby Lounger Injunction Dispute
The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday sided with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in an appeal by a pillow company aiming to block a CPSC proceeding against it over one of its infant products, saying even if the company can show that removal protections for CPSC's commissioners and a judge are unconstitutional, the company hasn't shown how that affects its case.
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June 04, 2024
Wildfire Attys Descend On Colo. As Xcel Litigation Ramps Up
Hundreds of lawsuits seeking to hold Xcel Energy responsible for a devastating 2021 Colorado wildfire are just the latest battleground for a relatively small community of lawyers who have been involved in some of the biggest catastrophic fire suits in the western U.S.
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June 04, 2024
Differences In Lost Car Resale Value Doom Class Certification
A Massachusetts judge has concluded that a group of drivers who want insurers to cover the lost value of their vehicles following crashes still can't show how liability could be established without an individualized assessment, dooming their latest bid for class certification.
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June 04, 2024
BofA Gets First Nod For $21M Wire Fee Settlement
A North Carolina federal judge gave an early nod Tuesday to a $21 million settlement between Bank of America NA and the proposed class of its customers who accused it of slapping $15 "junk fees" on their incoming wire transfers, with $7 million of the deal going to class counsel.
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June 04, 2024
CFPB Cautions Firms Against Contractual 'Fine Print Tactic'
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday warned banks and other financial services firms against trying to "trick" consumers with unenforceable waivers in their customer contracts, saying their use of certain contractual terms and conditions can open them up to supervisory or enforcement action.
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June 04, 2024
GM Ends Ga. Crash Suit That Nearly Forced CEO To Testify
General Motors and the widower of a woman whose death was alleged to have been caused by one of its vehicles have reached an agreement to end long-running wrongful death litigation that at one point threatened to force the company's CEO to testify, the parties said.
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June 04, 2024
Top 3 Groups Lobbying The FCC
The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates nearly 200 times in May on issues ranging from cybersecurity in schools and libraries to tribal broadband funding and deployment, net neutrality rules and captioning for the hearing- and speech-disabled.
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June 04, 2024
Experian Accuses Firms Of Fake Mortgage Denial Scheme
Credit reporting law firm Stein Saks PLLC headed up a nationwide scheme to "extort" Experian into settling "sham" lawsuits by consumers through creating fake credit denial letters in order to inflate damages and bolster their consumers' suits, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the credit reporting agency.
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June 04, 2024
Alaska Airlines Passengers Drop Boeing 737 Blowout Suit
A group of passengers has agreed to drop claims against The Boeing Co., supplier Spirit AeroSystems and Alaska Airlines over the Jan. 5 mid-flight door plug blowout on a Boeing 737, according to a stipulated dismissal notice filed in Washington state court.
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June 04, 2024
Manning Kass Adds 11 Insurance Attys From Morrison Mahoney
Manning & Kass Ellrod Ramirez Trester LLP has expanded its New York roster with a team of 11 attorneys and six paralegals from Morrison Mahoney LLP, saying Tuesday that the hires will bolster its work in insurance fraud and affirmative litigation.
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June 04, 2024
Khan, Kanter Say There's Bipartisan Will To Stop 'Coercion'
The federal government's top antitrust enforcers said Tuesday their aggressive scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions is changing the way businesses approach consolidation at the start of the process, and that's good for consumers and workers alike.
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June 04, 2024
Mondelez, BCLP Must Face Negligence Claims Over 2023 Breach
An Illinois federal judge has trimmed the majority of claims in proposed data privacy class actions brought by Mondelez workers against their employer and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP stemming from a 2023 data breach, although the company and law firm couldn't shake the cases entirely.
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June 03, 2024
Voir Dire With No Judge Present Persists In State Courts
Data released Friday by the National Center for State Courts revealed that voir dire conducted by lawyers with no judge present in the room persists in 7% of state court trials, but has been virtually eliminated in federal courts.
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June 03, 2024
TikTok Profits Off Of Child Sex Trafficking, Utah Alleges
Utah's Division of Consumer Protection hit TikTok Inc. with a lawsuit in state court Monday, accusing the social media giant of intentionally profiting off of child sex trafficking by implementing an unregulated virtual currency system in its live-streaming feature that allows children to be sexually exploited by adult viewers.
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June 03, 2024
USDA Proposes Another Rule To Protect Chicken Farmers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a rule Monday to make changes to the way poultry farmers are compensated, as the agency looks to address alleged abuses by the large processing companies that also supply the chickens.
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June 03, 2024
Fifth Third Bank Sued Over 'Hidden' Cost Of Solar Panel Loans
Fifth Third Bank faces a proposed class action alleging that its solar panel financing business violated the federal Truth in Lending Act by failing to disclose that it keeps a significant portion of the cost of certain solar panel system purchases while telling consumers it was lending to them at a low interest rate.
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June 03, 2024
Justices Won't Review Contempt Sanctions Against Drug Co.
The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals' challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's $40 million judgment against it for misrepresenting weight-loss drugs and violating an injunction.
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June 03, 2024
Kroger, Albertsons Can't Get More Info On FTC Markets
An Oregon federal judge denied Kroger and Albertsons' requests for more information on the markets at issue in the Federal Trade Commission's ongoing attempt to block their merger, saying the companies' request is premature and excessively broad.
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June 03, 2024
3 Airlines To Refund Over $900M For COVID Flight Changes
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and South African Airways will refund a combined $903 million to passengers who had flights changed or canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic and pay a combined $2.2 million in penalties for "extreme delays" in processing the requests, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday.
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June 03, 2024
FTC Gets Backing Against Noncompete Rule Challenge
The Federal Trade Commission has received backing against a challenge of its new rule banning noncompete clauses, with a labor group, local lawmakers and others urging a Texas federal court not to prevent the rule from taking effect in September.
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June 03, 2024
Navy Federal Lets AI Co. Monitor Calls, Suit Says
Navy Federal Credit Union has been letting an artificial intelligence software company intercept, analyze and record all its customer calls, according to a new lawsuit accusing the nation's largest credit union of putting its members' confidential, personal and financial information at risk.
Expert Analysis
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CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
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The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill
A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.
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Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes
Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.
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What's Notable In JAMS' New Mass Arbitration Rules
The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services’ recently released guidelines, coming on the heels of similar American Arbitration Association amendments, suggests that mass arbitrations will remain an efficient means for consumers to vindicate their rights against companies, say Jonathan Waisnor and Brandon Heitmann at Labaton Keller.
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5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?
Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.
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PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers
A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation
Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.
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New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape
While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.
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Opinion
CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking
In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.
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FDIC Bank Disclosure Rules Raise Important Questions
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rules mandating disclosures for nonbanks offering deposit products leave traditional financial institutions in a no-man's land between fintech-oriented requirements and the reality of personal service demanded by customers, say Paul Clark and Casey Jennings at Seward & Kissel.