Consumer Protection

  • October 31, 2025

    Toxic-Water Litigants Slam Expert As 'Rented White Coat'

    An expert witness for the federal government in litigation over contaminated water at the Camp Lejeune military base is merely a "rented white coat" proffering junk science and serving big-industry interests, claimants told a North Carolina federal court this week in a bid to exclude her from the case.

  • October 31, 2025

    FDA Warns Against Fluoride Use In Young Children

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday said it is stopping sales of unapproved fluoride products labeled for use by children under the age of three as part of the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again movement.

  • October 31, 2025

    Trump Admin Must Keep SNAP Running, Federal Judges Say

    A Rhode Island federal judge Friday ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funds to sustain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown, while a Boston federal judge gave the government until Monday to choose one of two paths to keep the program running to some degree.

  • October 31, 2025

    4th Circ. Denies En Banc Review In Bestwall Ch. 11 Case

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday declined asbestos claimants' request for an en banc review of a panel ruling in a Georgia-Pacific LLC spinoff's Chapter 11 case, rejecting on an 8-6 vote an argument that the bankruptcy is a sham and blocks victims' access to justice.

  • October 31, 2025

    Bayer Investors Get Final OK For $38M Settlement, Atty Fees

    A California federal judge has finalized a $38 million settlement between Germany-based Bayer AG and a class of investors who claim the company deceived them about the litigation risks of acquiring Roundup producer Monsanto, with the lead plaintiffs' attorney saying the deal reaffirmed investors' ability to hold foreign companies responsible for violating U.S. securities laws.

  • October 31, 2025

    1st Circ. Refuses To Transfer FCC Prison Phone Rate Case

    The First Circuit declined Friday to move multidistrict litigation over prison phone rate caps to the Fifth Circuit, rejecting an argument from phone service providers.

  • October 31, 2025

    CFPB Union Sounds Alarm As Funding 'Approaches Zero'

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's employee union warned that the agency is on the verge of running out of money and called for its acting Director Russell Vought to immediately request additional funds from the Federal Reserve.

  • October 31, 2025

    OpenAI Opposes 'Cookie-Cutter' Google Search Fixes

    OpenAI waded into the Justice Department's case against Google's search monopoly Friday to urge the D.C. federal judge to apply flexibility to mandates requiring Google to syndicate its search results to would-be rivals, arguing that permitting Google's more rigid "ten blue links" proposal would stifle "innovative uses."

  • October 31, 2025

    PVC Pipe Makers Say Price 'Conspiracy' Is 'Basic Economics'

    Polyvinyl chloride pipe manufacturers facing antitrust claims over 2020 price increases have told an Illinois federal judge the purchaser plaintiffs have failed to plausibly show there was a per se price-fixing conspiracy, so their suit should be dismissed.

  • October 31, 2025

    NJ Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Ban Kratom Extract

    A New Jersey state senator is looking to ban a kratom-derived compound, 7-hydroxymitragynine or 7-OH, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says should be highly restricted and is at the center of several proposed consumer class actions.

  • October 31, 2025

    Ed Dept. Pushing Millions Of Borrowers Into Default, Suit Says

    The secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and three major credit bureaus were hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court for allegedly forcing millions of student loan borrowers into delinquency and default due to operational failures in loan servicing after the COVID-19 deferment period ended earlier this year.

  • October 31, 2025

    4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In October

    Massachusetts state court judges in October dealt with missing details in a trade secrets case, missing lawyers in a proposed class action over COVID-19-related refund demands, and missing evidence during summary judgment proceedings.

  • October 31, 2025

    Federal Action Sought To Boost Low Earth Orbit Satellites

    Federal officials need to update rules governing low Earth orbit satellites to allow the space-based communications industry to keep expanding at a time of rising congestion, according to a pair of think tanks.

  • October 31, 2025

    Gov't Shutdown Puts Pause On Firefighting Foam PFAS Suits

    A South Carolina federal judge on Friday agreed to stay 22 cases in a multidistrict litigation seeking to hold the U.S. government liable for so-called forever chemical contamination from firefighting foam as the government shutdown continues.

  • October 31, 2025

    FCC Plans To Drop More Regs Covering 'Obsolete' Techs

    When the Federal Communications Commission convenes for its monthly meeting in November, it will vote on a measure that would nix nearly two dozen more rules that the agency has deemed obsolete in one fell swoop.

  • October 31, 2025

    Students Defend Law School Application Fee Antitrust Suit

    Plaintiffs in a proposed class action accusing the Law School Admission Council of fixing application fees with its member schools claim in a new filing their complaint is strong enough to survive a motion to dismiss.

  • October 31, 2025

    RealPage, Landlords Flag 'Fatal Deficiencies' In Antitrust Suit

    Property management software company RealPage Inc. and multiple landlords are urging a New Jersey federal court to toss the state's rent price-fixing suit, arguing that the suit contains "fatal deficiencies" and that the state is relying on circumstantial evidence in its attempt to show that the defendants made anticompetitive agreements.

  • October 30, 2025

    Snowflake, Clients Can't Escape MDL Over Cloud Data Breach

    Cloud storage provider Snowflake, along with its clients Ticketmaster and LendingTree, will continue to face sprawling multidistrict litigation over a data breach that hit Snowflake last year, after a Montana federal judge refused several bids to ax or force arbitration of negligence and other claims brought by a wide range of consumers who were impacted by the incident. 

  • October 30, 2025

    Sling TV Settles Privacy Claims From Calif. Streaming Sweep

    Sling TV has agreed to pay $530,000 to settle California's allegations that the streaming television service made it hard for consumers to stop the sale of their personal information and failed to provide sufficient privacy protections for children, California's attorney general announced Thursday.

  • October 30, 2025

    Lufthansa Must Face Same-Sex 'Outing' Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    Deutsche Lufthansa AG cannot ground a same-sex couple's lawsuit accusing the German airline of outing their marriage to the Saudi Arabian government, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Thursday, saying there are enough strings tying the case to California to meet jurisdiction requirements.

  • October 30, 2025

    Philly Accuses PBMs Of Knowingly Enabling Opioid Crisis

    Philadelphia on Thursday sued CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum, accusing the pharmacy benefit managers of contributing to the city's opioid epidemic via deceptive marketing and conspiring with drugmakers to increase the sale of OxyContin and other prescription opioids.

  • October 30, 2025

    Apple, Google Fight Bids To Depose CEOs In Antitrust Suit

    Google LLC and nonparty Apple Inc. have fired back in California federal court on a proposed class of consumers' effort to depose Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in their antitrust case alleging Google suppressed rival search engines with anticompetitive deals.

  • October 30, 2025

    BetterHelp Wins Defense Costs From Insurer For Privacy Case

    A California federal judge said a CNA Financial Corp. insurance unit must pay for BetterHelp's legal defense costs in underlying consumer litigation claiming the online therapy provider unlawfully disclosed private health information without consent, saying the timing of the alleged Electronic Communications Privacy Act violation triggered the duty to defend.

  • October 30, 2025

    Small Biz Groups Seek Quick Win In CFPB Lending Data Fight

    A coalition of consumer-aligned advocacy groups is seeking summary judgment in Washington, D.C., federal court in their suit aiming to compel the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to implement a 15-year-old Congressional mandate to collect lending data for women- and minority-owned small businesses.

  • October 30, 2025

    Judge Says FCA Qui Tam Provisions Don't Violate Constitution

    A Wisconsin federal judge has rejected Wisconsin Bell's attempt to shutter a whistleblower's claims it overcharged schools and libraries for connectivity services provided under the federal E-Rate program by arguing the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions are unconstitutional.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Strategies For Merchants As Payment Processing Costs Rise

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    As current economic pressures and rising card processing costs threaten to decrease margins for businesses, retail merchants should consider restructuring how payments are made and who processes them within the evolving legal framework, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • 7 Areas To Watch As FTC Ends Push For A Noncompete Ban

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    ​​​​​​As the government ends its push for a nationwide noncompete ban, ​employers who do not want to be caught without protections for legitimate business interests should explore supplementing their noncompetes by deploying elements of seven practical, enforceable tools, including nondisclosure agreements and garden leave strategies, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Shifting Crypto Landscape Complicates Tornado Cash Verdict

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    Amid shifts in the decentralized finance regulatory landscape, the mixed verdict in the prosecution of Tornado Cash’s founder may represent the high-water mark in a cryptocurrency enforcement strategy from which the U.S. Department of Justice has begun to retreat, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Del. Dispatch: Chancery Expands On Caremark Red Flags

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery’s recent Brewer v. Turner decision, allowing a shareholder derivative suit against the board of Regions Bank to proceed, takes a more expansive view as to what constitutes red flags, bad faith and corporate trauma in Caremark claims, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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    The Federal Trade Commission has recently rolled out multiple enforcement actions related to children's privacy, highlighting a renewed focus on federal regulation of minors' personal information and the evolving challenges of establishing effective, privacy-protective age assurance solutions, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • Who Will Regulate Insider Trading In Prediction Markets?

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    The possibilities for insider trading have greatly expanded in the brave new world of prediction markets, and both the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and U.S. Department of Justice could bring enforcement actions in the space, so businesses should revisit their insider trading and confidential information policies, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Identifying The Sources And Impacts Of Juror Contamination

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    Jury contamination can be pervasive, so it is important that trial teams be able to spot its sources and take specific mitigation steps, says consultant Clint Townson.

  • 7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Federal Debanking Scrutiny Prompts Compliance Questions

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    Recent U.S. Small Business Administration guidance sets forth requirements for preventing so-called politicized debanking and specific additional instructions for small lenders, but falls short on clarity for larger institutions, leaving lenders of all sizes with questions as they navigate this unique compliance challenge, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

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