Consumer Protection

  • April 25, 2024

    Houston Surgeon OKs Order For Docs In Wrongful Death Suit

    A transplant surgeon at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center in Houston and the families of three patients who died while on the hospital's liver transplant waiting list told a judge Thursday that they had agreed to a temporary restraining order preventing the doctor from deleting or altering any documents related to the families' wrongful death claims.

  • April 25, 2024

    Dominican Republic, Uzbekistan No Longer On IP Watch List

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Thursday it has removed the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan from its watch list of countries with poor track records on intellectual property protection, keeping close trade partners Mexico and Canada on the roster.

  • April 25, 2024

    Autodesk Faces Investor Suit Over Internal Controls

    Software company Autodesk has been hit with a proposed class action alleging the company's stock price dropped after investors learned it lacked proper internal controls due to issues with its free cash flow and operating margin practices.

  • April 25, 2024

    Standard General Claims Racial Bias By FCC In Tegna Deal

    Hedge fund manager Soo Kim is suing the Federal Communications Commission and a cadre of media players over what he calls a racially charged conspiracy to block his fund's $8.6 billion purchase of media company Tegna, claiming the agency discriminated against him when it sidelined the deal last year.

  • April 25, 2024

    Becton BIPA Suit Gets Cut Short Under Health Exception

    An Illinois federal judge permanently tossed a Chicago health worker's biometric privacy claims targeting Becton Dickinson and Co.'s drug dispensing cabinets, saying his arguments for putting distance between his case and foreclosing precedent "border on the frivolous."

  • April 25, 2024

    Split Take On NJ 'Fake' Sale Case Disrupts Biz-Friendly Pattern

    A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision rejecting "fake discounts" as a source of consumer fraud was a boon for the class action defense bar, but the takes of three dissenting judges and Attorney General Matt Platkin show that the state's largely business-friendly jurisprudence on what qualifies as an ascertainable loss isn't quite settled.

  • April 25, 2024

    FCC Proposes Local Georouting For 988 Calls

    The Federal Communications Commission proposed Thursday to introduce geolocation for calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which would ensure that the calls are routed to a local crisis center instead of one in another city or state.

  • April 25, 2024

    Antitrust Enforcers Warn FERC About Ownership Overlaps

    The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice warned energy regulators Thursday about competitive risks that can arise from investment firms that own stakes in multiple electric utilities, even if they don't have controlling interests.

  • April 25, 2024

    Philips Gets $506M Economic Loss Deal OK'd In CPAP MDL

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday gave final approval to a $506.3 million settlement to end economic loss claims in multidistrict litigation over Philips' recalled CPAP breathing machines, including $94.4 million for the plaintiffs' attorneys.

  • April 25, 2024

    NC Hospital Leader Condemns FTC's Merger Block Bid

    The chief of staff for a North Carolina hospital in the midst of a merger battle ripped the care facility's current owners Thursday in a show of support for new ownership, pleading for federal antitrust regulators to get out of the way lest they usher in "a year long death marked by suffering" for the hospital.

  • April 25, 2024

    AIG Unit Says Gunmaker's Suit Policy Omits $250K Per Year

    A gun manufacturer must pay $250,000 in self-insured retention limits for each calendar year that underlying litigation brought by the city of Gary, Indiana, is pending — stretching back to a defense agreement reached 10 years ago — an AIG unit has told a Connecticut federal court, saying the agreement was never terminated.

  • April 25, 2024

    Mr. Cooper's $3.6M Convenience Fee Settlement Gets Final OK

    A D.C. federal judge on Thursday gave the final nod to a nearly $3.6 million settlement to resolve class action claims that Mr. Cooper unlawfully charged processing fees to borrowers who made mortgage payments over the phone.

  • April 25, 2024

    Conn. Judge In Drug Price-Fixing Suit Reveals Day Pitney Ties

    U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea of the District of Connecticut said Thursday he will not recuse himself from overseeing state enforcers' price-fixing claims against Sandoz Inc. and other drug companies despite Sandoz's attorneys being from Day Pitney LLP, where he was once a partner.

  • April 25, 2024

    Hospital Operator Must Face Data Privacy Suit In Mass.

    A Massachusetts federal judge has ordered a hospital operator to face proposed class action claims that it exposed a patient's personal information to third parties, saying the patient had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

  • April 25, 2024

    FCC Restores Net Neutrality Rules In Party-Line Vote

    The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on party lines Thursday to bring back the Obama-era net neutrality regime by reclassifying broadband service under the Communications Act and making it subject to common carrier telecom rules.

  • April 24, 2024

    Canada Privacy Chief Aims To Make The Most Of Existing Laws

    Amid his push for more robust enforcement powers, Canada's privacy commissioner hasn't forgotten that existing data protection laws still pack a punch and plans to continue to wield these tools to tackle priorities such as protecting children online and addressing concerns raised by technologies like ChatGPT, the regulator told Law360.

  • April 24, 2024

    FDIC Pushes Back On Lender Groups Suing Over Colo. Law

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has weighed in on a legal challenge to a Colorado law aimed at curbing higher-cost online lending in the state, arguing that the lender trade groups behind the challenge are misconstruing the agency's past words to support their case.

  • April 24, 2024

    3M And Ga. Utility Say $850M PFAS Cleanup Plan A No-Go

    3M, a Georgia utilities provider and carpet and chemical manufacturers told a Georgia federal judge Wednesday they shouldn't have to face an $850 million remediation plan to clean up alleged waterway contamination from forever chemicals.

  • April 24, 2024

    Hedge Fund Says Credit Suisse Misled On Bonds' Health

    U.S.-based hedge fund Appaloosa LP is accusing the former Credit Suisse in New Jersey federal court of misleading investors about its financial health before $17 billion of its bonds were wiped out in a merger with its Swiss competitor UBS.

  • April 24, 2024

    Takeaways From The FTC's Noncompetes Ban

    The first legal challenges to the Federal Trade Commission's new ban on essentially all noncompete agreements that employers impose on workers have already been filed, but questions remain, not just on the rule's legal viability, but also on the likelihood of follow-on rulemakings and the rule's exact reach.

  • April 24, 2024

    Plex Hit With Privacy Lawsuit Over Info Sharing With Meta

    A California man is suing streaming platform Plex, claiming the company secretly shares viewing data with Facebook in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act.

  • April 24, 2024

    Judge Suggests Amazon Never Denied Late-Delivery Refund

    A Washington federal judge seemed to signal Wednesday that a putative class action accusing Amazon of not delivering a package as quickly as promised might get dismissed, noting the plaintiff did not actually get denied a refund because he never requested one. 

  • April 24, 2024

    Wash. Property Manager Sued Over Lease Cancellation Fees

    A proposed class of tenants accused a Seattle property management company and a Washington debt collection agency in state court of using lease cancellation practices that violate state law.

  • April 24, 2024

    Feds File Conspiracy Charges In $1M La. 'Romance' Fraud

    U.S. prosecutors in Louisiana have charged three Atlanta-area individuals of running "romance scams" to defraud victims of more than $1 million, according to a recently unsealed indictment in Pelican State federal court.

  • April 24, 2024

    Pacifica Will Pay $25K For Station Ad Violations, FCC Says

    Pacifica Foundation Inc. has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine and enter into a compliance plan to resolve allegations that it allowed an iconic New York public radio station to air several shows promoting products without identifying the program sponsors.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 AI Risks For Corporate Boards To Examine

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    Whether companies are building their own artificial intelligence technology or leveraging third-party tools, their directors should get educated on certain legal issues and business risks to ensure the adoption of policies that foster responsible use of generative AI, say James Gatto and Tiana Garbett at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 3 Areas Of Focus In Congressional Crosshairs This Year

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    Companies must prepare for Congress to build on its 2023 oversight priorities this year, continuing its vigorous inquiries into Chinese company-related investments, workplace safety and labor relations issues, and generative artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Companies Should Beware Greater Scrutiny Of Subscriptions

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    The New York Attorney General's Office has been utilizing a severe interpretation of the law in enforcement against subscription services, as demonstrated in last month's Sirius XM complaint and Cerebral settlement — and this focus is representative of heightened subscription scrutiny in other states and at the federal level, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Takeaways From FTC Children's Privacy Rule Proposal

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    The Federal Trade Commission’s recently issued and long-awaited proposed revisions to its Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule are not as seismic as might have been expected under current leadership, and show that the agency's COPPA rulemaking is far from over, says Phyllis Marcus at Hunton.

  • Series

    Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.

  • 3 Key Class Action Trends To Use As Guidance In 2024

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    Telephone Consumer Protection Act, privacy and false advertising class actions saw significant shifts last year — including a trend toward expanding the application of preexisting laws to current technologies — that businesses should keep in mind to navigate the class action landscape in 2024, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?

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    Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.

  • What FTC CARS Rule Means For Auto Dealers And Lenders

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    A newly finalized Federal Trade Commission rule is aimed at changing how auto dealers interact with customers in the financing process, but will likely also affect banks and finance companies — and consequences for lenders and servicers have been amplified by recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Data Brokers Can Prep For Calif. Delete Act Compliance

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    As California Delete Act obligations approach in late January, data brokers should proactively assess and scrutinize their compliance with the act, taking proactive measures to mitigate potential risks associated with noncompliance, say Goli Mahdavi and Gabrielle Harwell at BCLP.

  • Why CFTC Whistleblowers Are Crucial To Crypto Regulation

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's whistleblower program has proven to be a key tool in the U.S.' efforts to police cryptocurrency, but a funding issue shows that it has become a victim of its own success, says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • How 4 State AGs Are Shaping Data Privacy Compliance

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    As the landscape of state data privacy laws continues to grow across the nation, understanding how state attorneys general — such as in California, Colorado, Connecticut and Virginia — are thinking about these laws is critical to begin forecasting how enforcement will play out, say Michelle Kallen and Daniel Echeverri at Jenner & Block.

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

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    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Securities Class Actions Show No Signs of Slowing In 2024

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    Plaintiffs asserted securities class actions at elevated levels in 2023 — a sign that filings will remain high in the year ahead — as they switched gears to target companies that allegedly have failed to anticipate supply chain disruptions, persistent inflation, rising interest rates and other macroeconomic headwinds, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Top Considerations For Retailers Using AI To Combat Theft

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement action against Rite Aid indicates a significant evolution in the landscape surrounding biometric information and artificial intelligence data collection by retailers, meaning retailers should take reasonable measures to prevent harm to customers, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Major EU AI Banking Ruling Will Reverberate Across Sectors

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    Following the European Court of Justice's recent OQ v. Land Hessen decision that banks' use of AI-driven credit scores to make consumer decisions did not comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, regulators indicated that the ruling would apply broadly, leaving numerous industries that employ AI-powered decisions open to scrutiny, say lawyers at Alston & Bird.

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