Consumer Protection

  • October 01, 2026

    Commerce Probes Aluminum Composite For Duty Evasion

    A Chinese company's aluminum composite panels may be designed to circumvent duties on common alloy aluminum sheet imported from the country, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday, announcing an investigation.

  • October 01, 2026

    BREAKING: DOJ Outlines New Corporate Fraud Enforcement Priorities

    Federal prosecutors "must place great weight" on a new list of factors when considering potential charges in corporate fraud cases, including whether the matters involve government programs, threats to national security or immigration offenses, according to a memo released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 01, 2026

    Vape Co. Eyes Intervention In FDA E-Cigarette Suit

    The maker of the flavored e-liquid brand Naked 100 wants to defend the current U.S. tobacco policy allowing vape products to enter the market without full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, telling a federal court that reversing the rule could push its products off shelves.

  • September 30, 2026

    9th Circ. Judges Doubt X's Claims Against Anti-Hate Group

    Ninth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of X Corp.'s bid to revive claims against two nonprofits for scraping tweets to study online hate speech, with one judge questioning X's contract damages claim and another doubting that the nonprofits could be held liable for publishing true information.

  • September 30, 2026

    Senate Panel Seeks To Hold AI Giants Liable For Rogue Hacks

    Several U.S. senators made a bipartisan push Wednesday to impose both civil and criminal liability on the makers and users of advanced artificial intelligence models for the misuse of these systems, arguing that such a move would give these companies more incentive to combat cyberattacks carried out by rogue AI agents and other potential harms. 

  • September 30, 2026

    7th Circ. Backs Truckers In Union Pacific BIPA Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed that fingerprint scans at Union Pacific's Illinois facilities violated a state privacy law, rejecting the company's stance that a government contractor exception applies anytime the contract is active.

  • September 30, 2026

    Paramount Gets OK On Deal With State AGs Over Merger

    A California federal judge gave the green light Wednesday to a settlement to end a group of state enforcers' challenge of Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the resolution reflects a "good faith approach" to alleviate concerns that the merger will stifle entertainment industry competition.

  • September 30, 2026

    Baby Food Co. Will Keep Posting Test Results, Texas AG Says

    Baby food company Plum Organics has committed to continuing to publish heavy metal test results for its infant food products, according to a deal it signed with the Texas attorney general's office to end a state investigation.

  • September 30, 2026

    Valve Order Allows 15K Antitrust Arbitrations To Be Closed

    A federal judge in Seattle refused Wednesday to issue a preliminary injunction to curb the closure of nearly 15,000 gamers' antitrust arbitrations against entertainment giant Valve Corp., finding that plaintiff Jeffrey Smith failed to show that closing the arbitrations would cause irreparable harm.

  • September 30, 2026

    NYC Tenants Claim PE Firm Illegally Overcharged Rent

    A proposed class of New York City rent-stabilized tenants alleged Wednesday that they were illegally overcharged for rent while living in 19 Manhattan and Brooklyn residential properties operated by real estate private equity firm PH Realty Capital LLC.

  • September 30, 2026

    Newsom Signs Law Letting California Target Solo Monopolies

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Wednesday that expands California's Cartwright Act to allow the state to pursue monopoly and monopsony claims against a solo company, instead of requiring multicompany coordinated conduct, saying the bill is "leveling the playing field" for small businesses. 

  • September 30, 2026

    Meta Fights 'Monster' Proposed $1.1B CIPA Judgment

    Meta has urged a California federal judge not to grant a partial final judgment of more than $1.1 billion against it for unlawfully obtaining sensitive data from users of the menstrual tracking app Flo, saying the judgment it criticized as "Frankenstein's monster" violates its due process rights.

  • September 30, 2026

    DraftKings Uses AI To Exploit Losing Bettors, Suit Alleges

    DraftKings weaponizes artificial intelligence to identify vulnerable gamblers who tend to lose and then deploys promotions enticing those gamblers to place more bets to increase the house's revenue, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in Massachusetts federal court.

  • September 30, 2026

    Joby Air Taxi Trade Secrets Suit Against Archer Trimmed

    A California federal judge has cleared Joby Aviation to advance a slimmed-down lawsuit alleging rival electric air-taxi developer Archer Aviation misappropriated its trade secrets, but again rejected Archer's counterclaims alleging Joby unfairly jockeyed for government contracts and concealed its pervasive China ties.

  • September 30, 2026

    'Waterproof' Sunscreen Suit Tossed Over Lack Of Harm

    A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a proposed class action alleging that Missha and A'pieu sunscreens are falsely labeled as "waterproof" and "sweatproof," saying that the consumers hadn't shown that they were harmed financially since the products still functioned as sun protection.

  • September 30, 2026

    FCC OKs Cable Biz Waiver To Fix Banned Routers

    The Federal Communications Commission has come through with another waiver that will allow certain companies to make changes to foreign-made routers that the agency has banned from being imported, in the hopes of avoiding the supply chain shortages that the ban created.

  • September 30, 2026

    Crypto Project Argentina Pres. Promoted Ducks RICO Claims

    A New York federal judge has permanently dismissed a proposed class action against the operators and promoters of a cryptocurrency project touted by Argentinian President Javier Milei, finding the investors failed to plausibly plead that the defendants conspired to defraud them.

  • September 30, 2026

    23andMe Beats Calif.'s Bankruptcy Sale Privacy Challenge

    A Missouri federal judge on Tuesday denied California's bid to undo the $305 million bankruptcy sale of 23andMe over concerns that the sale sidestepped state consumer data protections, ruling that the state lacks standing to challenge the sale and that the court's "good-faith" findings aren't clearly erroneous.  

  • September 30, 2026

    FTC Asks Texas Court To Keep Trans Health Suit Intact

    The Federal Trade Commission asked a Texas federal court to keep intact its lawsuit against World Professional Association for Transgender Health, saying Tuesday that it adequately pled that the organization published medically dubious, self-serving trans guidelines that push "dangerous and experimental treatments."

  • September 30, 2026

    Google Looks To Toss 'Implausible' Amended AI Spying Action

    Google is seeking to permanently end the third iteration of a proposed action alleging its "Smart Features" unlawfully give Gemini AI access to users' private correspondence, asserting Google's privacy policy allows it to automatically collect such communication data.

  • September 30, 2026

    Benefits Firm Can't Knock Out Data Breach Suit

    A Georgia federal court on Wednesday narrowed, but refused to dismiss, a proposed class action accusing a human resources services firm of failing to safeguard customer information ahead of a 2024 data breach.

  • September 30, 2026

    Utility Hasn't Billed For Almost 10 Years, Conn. Agency Told

    A small Connecticut water company has not issued bills to its customers in nearly a decade, violating a prior regulatory order and raising concerns that customers will ultimately owe enormous sums, according to a petition asking the state's energy regulator to investigate.

  • September 30, 2026

    Chase Gets Trump's $5B Fla. Debanking Case Sent To NY

    A Florida federal judge on Wednesday granted JPMorgan Chase Bank NA's motion to transfer President Donald Trump's $5 billion debanking case to New York, agreeing with the bank that the president and his businesses fraudulently joined JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon in an attempt to keep the litigation in Florida.

  • September 30, 2026

    11th Circ. Skeptical Of PACE Lenders' CFPB Rule Challenge

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday appeared poised to reject an industry challenge to Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules for providers of property-assessed clean-energy loans, repeatedly questioning claims that the agency overstepped its authority.

  • September 30, 2026

    FCC Opens 2 Spectrum Bands For Satellite Services

    The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday opened two portions of spectrum totaling more than 1,000 megahertz to expand satellite broadband as part of a long-range plan to free up the airwaves for space-based activities.

Expert Analysis

  • How ChatGPT Teen Version Raises Product Liability Questions

    Author Photo

    OpenAI's recent rollout of ChatGPT for Teens offers younger users a purportedly safer version of the software — but it could also help plaintiffs who are questioning whether earlier versions were safe for minors, when the company identified risks and when safeguards became technically viable, says Michael McCready at McCready Law.

  • AG Watch: Va. Vape Product Regulations Enter A New Phase

    Author Photo

    Virginia's new vape enforcement framework carries important implications related to product eligibility and certification requirements for businesses operating in the marketplace, representing the culmination of several years of legislative action, regulatory development, litigation and interagency planning, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O'Connor.

  • What's Next For Prediction Markets If States Win At High Court

    Author Photo

    While the Supreme Court hasn't taken up a prediction market case yet, a high court win for the states in their quest to regulate the exchanges would likely mean a wave of state legislature bills and regulatory guidance arriving on different timelines, rather than a single uniform transition, says Howard Herndon at Bradley Arant.

  • FDIC Standards Body Could Ease Bank Vendor Due Diligence

    Author Photo

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recently proposed standards body for bank vendors could streamline due diligence and onboarding, but banks and their third-party service providers alike should still monitor open questions around oversight, certification costs and governance, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

    Author Photo

    The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

    Author Photo

    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six recent rulings involving pecuniary loss in false price comparison advertising, privity in an insurance fee class, antitrust standing, immigration class representatives, retirement beneficiary class commonality, and Rule 23(f) appeals in Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

  • HPE-Juniper Settlement Teaches Key Tunney Act Lessons

    Author Photo

    A California federal court's recent approval of the U.S. Department of Justice's settlement with Hewlett Packard over its Juniper Networks acquisition offers legal practitioners some crucial lessons, including on unique tech-sector remedies for mergers and acquisitions and the continued viability of the Tunney Act, says Shubha Ghosh at Syracuse University College of Law.

  • First Steps For Companies Facing AI-Assisted Pro Se Suits

    Author Photo

    As the volume of filings by pro se litigants assisted by artificial intelligence tools continues to increase, companies should adopt a consistent early assessment process to control costs while responding fairly and effectively to such claims, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.

  • Elder Fraud Risk And Pleading Lessons From Meta Cases

    Author Photo

    Michael Gilfix and Benjamin Gicqueau at Gilfix & La Poll discuss how a recent Meta youth settlement and an April decision involving social media harms to children may point to a broader pleading framework in cases of elder fraud, and offer practical measures for platforms and consumers seeking to reduce elder fraud risk.

  • Negotiating The Scope Of The Stablecoin Customer ID Rule

    Author Photo

    Though comments on bank regulators’ proposed rule for stablecoin issuers under the Genius Act generally agree that oversight would help prevent illicit activity, agencies must reconcile disagreement over whether to extend customer identification requirements from issuers' primary-market relationships to secondary-markets activity, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • An Economic Approach Could Curb Broad Antitrust Classes

    Author Photo

    A Minnesota federal court's recent certification decision reflects a familiar antitrust pattern of inefficiently broad class certification even when the alleged conspiracy's effect is likely to vary significantly across buyers, but utilizing an economic interpretation of predominance would enhance efficiency by leading to narrower classes, says Sean Durkin at Charles River.

  • How To Improve Hiring Transparency Amid Ghost Job Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    Recent regulatory and state law scrutiny of ghost job postings for roles that don't exist or aren't being filled signals a shift toward hiring transparency, and employers that fail to adapt risk enforcement actions, consumer protection claims and financial penalties, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Hugging Face Attack Is A Warning To The Securities Markets

    Author Photo

    The recent Hugging Face cyberattack, in which OpenAI's artificial intelligence agents hacked a third party without human instruction, raises questions about how regulators could respond to a similar incident in the securities markets and whether there's a substitute for scienter if no person is behind a financial crime, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

  • FTC Push May Create Dual Origin-Claim Risks For Contractors

    Author Photo

    Recent Federal Trade Commission actions involving Made in USA advertising requirements offer a preview of enforcement themes that may impose dual compliance burdens on government contractors that are also subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation Buy American restrictions, says Amy Hoang at Seyfarth.

  • 4 Tips On Expert Gatekeeping From J&J Talc Deal

    Author Photo

    Johnson & Johnson's successful campaign to exclude plaintiff-side oncologist testimony about whether its talcum powder caused ovarian cancer, which prompted the recent resolution of 70,000 claims, offers lessons on how product liability defendants can reshape risk calculation by rigorously applying expert admissibility rules, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here