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Consumer Protection
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April 23, 2024
Judge Quiets NY Outdoor Stadium For Frazzled Neighbors
A state judge has temporarily muffled the activities of a century-old outdoor stadium in New York, ordering it to hire an independent contractor to monitor noise levels and to place barricades that prevent concert-goers from wandering into nearby neighborhoods.
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April 23, 2024
Drugmakers Hit With RICO Suit Over Insulin Price Hikes
The world's three largest insulin manufacturers engineered an enormous increase in the price of the lifesaving diabetes medication through an "unfair and deceptive conspiracy" with household-name pharmacies, letting all involved reap extraordinary profits for 20 years, according to a lawsuit in Connecticut federal court.
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April 23, 2024
Do Not Remand FDA Cigar Rule Without Vacatur, DC Circ. Told
The New Civil Liberties Alliance is urging the D.C. Circuit not to remand a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule regulating premium cigars without first vacating the regulation, saying federal agencies cannot enforce rules that have been declared unlawful.
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April 23, 2024
Williams-Sonoma To Pay $3.2M Over 'Made In America' Claims
Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a $3.18 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly mislabeling Chinese-produced products as American-made.
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April 23, 2024
Md.-Based Career Public Servant Is The FTC's Newest ALJ
The Federal Trade Commission announced the appointment of another administrative law judge on Tuesday, elevating a longtime public servant who had previously become the first female Muslim American administrative law judge at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings.
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April 23, 2024
BofA Nears Deal Over 'Hidden' Wire Transfer Junk Fees
Bank of America has agreed to resolve a proposed class action accusing it of tacking on $15 "junk fees" for incoming wire transfers, and a North Carolina federal judge on Monday gave the parties until May 24 to submit a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement.
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April 23, 2024
Colo. Neural Privacy Law Has Attys Scratching Their Heads
Colorado's governor signed the nation's first law specifically protecting neural data last week, but privacy attorneys say key caveats in the legislation leave them unsure how far the measure really goes.
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April 23, 2024
FTC Bars Employers From Imposing Noncompete Contracts
The Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 on Tuesday to ban essentially all noncompete agreements that employers frequently impose on workers, leaving an earlier draft of the ban mostly unchanged other than to allow existing noncompete agreements with senior executives to remain while banning future ones for top corporate officials.
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April 22, 2024
Ransomware Still On Rise Despite Better Defenses, Firm Says
Companies are becoming more adept at fending off and responding to a steady stream of ransomware attacks, but hackers' ability to continue to profit from these incidents and increased scrutiny by regulators and the plaintiffs' bar will keep pressure on companies to remain vigilant, according to a new BakerHostetler report.
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April 22, 2024
T-Mobile Can't Dodge Stolen Nude Photos Suit
T-Mobile can't dodge most of a suit seeking to hold the mobile behemoth liable for allegations that one of its employees stole nude photos from a customer's phone, which she turned in as part of a trade-in offer, a Washington federal court has ruled.
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April 22, 2024
DOJ Antitrust Concerns Topple $960M Insulation Biz Merger
Insulation and building material provider TopBuild Corp. said Monday it has terminated its $960 million agreement to buy mechanical insulation provider Specialty Products & Insulation from private equity firm Incline Equity Partners, saying it was unable to reach a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice over antitrust concerns.
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April 22, 2024
NY's 'Buy-Now, Pay-Later' Oversight Bill Delayed But Not Dead
A New York state proposal to start licensing and supervising buy-now, pay-later providers didn't make the final cut in lawmakers' just-approved $237 billion budget, but a version being advanced through standalone legislation could still make it into law.
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April 22, 2024
Kansas Gov. Signs Earned Wage Access License Bill Into Law
Kansas has become the fourth state to approve new laws governing so-called earned wage access products, joining Nevada, Missouri and Wisconsin in regulating services for workers seeking cash advances.
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April 22, 2024
CFTC Says Gemini Can't Pin Misstatements On 'Intermediary'
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has told a New York federal court that cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust Co. LLC is seeking to "shirk responsibility" for misleading the agency's staff about the risks of a proposed bitcoin futures contract.
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April 22, 2024
Real Estate Investment Cos. Owe SEC $8.4M For $17.5M Fraud
A pair of companies allegedly used in service of a fraudulent real estate investment scheme will pay over $8.4 million to end claims they were part of the $17.5 million ploy that took in more than 150 would-be investors with claims that the securities involved were "recession-proof."
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April 22, 2024
FCC Fines AT&T, Internet Co. For Discussing Auction Bids
AT&T Services Inc. and AMG Technology Investment Group LLC have not been able to convince the Federal Communications Commission to kibosh a combined $175,000 in fines for talking to each other during the bidding process for an auction of funds to subsidize infrastructure build-out.
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April 22, 2024
FCC Eyes Rule Changes For Independent Video Programmers
The Federal Communications Commission plans to explore how federal rules can better help independent video programmers thrive in a competitive media landscape and may prohibit a pair of provisions that affect their contracts with distributors.
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April 22, 2024
Social Media MDL Attys Ordered To Sort Out Confidentiality
A California federal judge presiding over discovery in multidistrict litigation over whether social media platforms' design is addictive warned parties at a hearing Monday not to ask him to resolve disputes over confidentiality designations, asking repeatedly, "Why do they matter?" and saying, "These are the kinds of things that lawyers should work out."
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April 22, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Class Cert. In Pet Supplement False Ad Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld certification of a consumer class accusing health supplement company Nutramax of falsely marketing Cosequin as promoting healthy joints in dogs, saying an economics expert could use a generic and "otherwise reliable" damages model without applying it specifically to the class at this stage.
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April 22, 2024
USW Says EPA Asbestos Ban Doesn't Protect Workers Enough
The United Steelworkers and the nonprofit Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization called on the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent ban on the most prevalent variety of asbestos, with the union arguing the ban falls short by failing to provide certain interim protections.
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April 22, 2024
Kroger, Albertsons Expand Divestiture Plan
Supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons are willing to let go of an extra 166 stores in the hopes of swaying federal and state regulators to drop their opposition to the $25 billion grocer union, they said Monday.
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April 22, 2024
Gambling Co., Casinos Battle Over Shuffler Antitrust Claims
Scientific Games successor Light & Wonder has urged an Illinois federal judge not to certify a class of automatic card shuffler buyers, even as the riverboat casinos accusing it of tricking the patent office into shoring up its shuffler monopoly argued that their claims should go to trial.
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April 22, 2024
Robinhood 'Meme Stock' Investors Lose New Class Cert. Bid
A Florida federal judge has denied a bid from Robinhood investors to file a new motion for class certification in a suit over the trading platform's suspension of so-called meme stock purchases, saying the deadline for class certification has passed and the investors have not shown a good reason to extend it.
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April 22, 2024
Group Backs Net Neutrality, But Not Fees On Broadband
Despite supporting a planned net neutrality regime, media advocacy group Free Press has argued against using the new rules to impose fees on the broadband industry to support telecommunications subsidies, saying the idea would only harm consumers.
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April 22, 2024
Conn. Lawmaker Wants To Allow Suits For AI Discrimination
Connecticut citizens should be able to bring private lawsuits if an artificial intelligence system discriminates against them, a key lawmaker said Monday as the state's judiciary committee voted to advance a bill regulating the use of AI programs that can make significant decisions for consumers in the state.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Contractors Need Protection From NJ Homeowner Protections
A recently passed New Jersey law, combined with the state's Consumer Fraud Act, is intended to protect innocent homeowners, but legislative action must be taken to prevent homeowners from abusing the law to avoid paying hardworking contractors, say Gary Strong and Madison Calkins at Gfeller Laurie.
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Bracing Cos. For Calif. Privacy Agency's Restored Authority
A recent California state appeals court decision greenlights the California Privacy Protection Agency's enforcement of certain consumer privacy regulations, which may speed up compliance requirements, so businesses considering use of artificial intelligence, for instance, may want to reassess their handling of privacy notices and opt-out requests, say Kevin Angle and Matthew Cin at Ropes & Gray.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Basics Of Bank Regulators' Push For Discount Window Use
As the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency emphasize short-term liquidity risk management as central to preventing spring 2023-style bank collapses, banks should carefully tune into regulators’ remarks encouraging use of the Fed’s discount window, which some policymakers identify as a key component in the evolution of liquidity regulation and backstop lending, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions
Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Communication Is Key As CFPB Updates Appeals Process
Though a recently updated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule expands financial institutions' abilities to appeal supervisory decisions, creating strong relationships and open communication channels with CFPB examiners may help resolve disputes faster than the more cumbersome formal process, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.
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Considerations For Disclosing AI Use In SEC Filings
Recent remarks from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler should be heard as a clarion call for public companies to disclose artificial intelligence use, with four takeaways on what companies should disclose, says Richard Hong at Morrison Cohen.
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Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power
In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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Setting The Stage For High Court BofA Escrow Interest Case
Dori Bailey and Curtis Johnson at Bond Schoeneck examine relevant legislation and case law dating back 200 years ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in Cantero v. Bank of America, the outcome of which will determine whether state laws governing mortgage escrow accounts can be enforced against national banks.
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What To Know About OCC Proposals For Bank Merger Review
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's proposed changes to the agency's bank merger review process could exacerbate industry concerns with long and unpredictable processing periods because the proposal is ambiguous with respect to how the OCC will view certain transactions, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools
Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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5 Lessons For SaaS Companies After Blackbaud Data Breach
Looking at the enforcement actions that software-as-a-service provider Blackbaud resolved with state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the past year can help SaaS companies manage these increasingly common forms of data breaches, say attorneys at Orrick.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.