Consumer Protection

  • May 22, 2024

    Wells Fargo Tries 2 Tactics To Get Overdraft Fee Suit Bounced

    Wells Fargo is arguing to a South Dakota federal judge that customers suing as a potential class fully knew they were subject to penalties when they bounced checks, and that an arbitration clause obligates them to handle disputes outside court.

  • May 22, 2024

    Accepting Price-Fix Tech Invite Can Be Enough: DOJ Official

    An advisor to the Justice Department's top competition official continued to argue Wednesday that signing onto a price setting algorithm can be enough to trigger antitrust liability if the program was billed as fixing prices.

  • May 22, 2024

    FCC Weighs Requiring AI Disclosures In Political Ads

    The Federal Communications Commission will soon decide if it needs new rules requiring disclosure of content generated with artificial intelligence in radio and TV political ads.

  • May 22, 2024

    Evidence Shaky In First Zantac Cancer Trial, Drugmakers Say

    Attorneys for GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim told a Chicago jury Wednesday that no one besides a plaintiff's paid witnesses have said publicly that Zantac heartburn medication causes colon cancer, calling on the jurors to reject claims that the companies owe $640 million for a woman's cancer diagnosis.

  • May 22, 2024

    Daughter Sues Over Oil Co. Family's 'Looting Campaign'

    Two relatives of Westmore Fuel Co. Inc.'s late co-founder are plundering the company to edge out his successors, the daughter of a co-founder claims in a Connecticut state court complaint aiming to dissolve the firm.

  • May 22, 2024

    DuPont 'Document Dump' Rattles NC In PFAS Suit

    North Carolina and DuPont on Wednesday battled over what the state called a roughly 5 million-page "document dump" ahead of a looming June 3 discovery deadline in its contamination lawsuit, irking a business court judge in the process.

  • May 22, 2024

    Uvalde Families Ink $2M Deal With City Over School Shooting

    The families of 19 victims of the deadly May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School announced Wednesday that they've reached a presuit settlement with the city of Uvalde, Texas, that includes $2 million in payments to the families and commitments to better train police officers in their shooting responses.

  • May 22, 2024

    WeChat Users Must Arbitrate Privacy Row, Calif. Panel Says

    California appellate justices said Monday that WeChat users must arbitrate their proposed class action accusing Tencent of using politically motivated practices to censor their communications, saying plaintiffs can't argue they never agreed to terms of service with the arbitration provision while also basing their complaint on those same terms of service.

  • May 22, 2024

    Major County Sheriffs Seek FCC's OK For Axon Cameras

    Sheriffs from the largest U.S. counties called on the Federal Communications Commission to waive technical rules to allow law enforcement to use three new Axon camera devices.

  • May 22, 2024

    SC Gov. Signs Earned Wage Access Bill Into Law

    South Carolina has become the fifth state to approve a new law governing so-called earned wage access products, which provide workers with cash advances, as the Palmetto State joins Nevada, Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas in regulating the products.

  • May 22, 2024

    Rakoff Punts Terraform Args Amid Big-Dollar Settlement Talk

    A hearing on whether Terraform Labs and its creator Do Kwon must pay billions of dollars in penalties after being found liable for fraud by a Manhattan jury was delayed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who said the sides are actively pursuing a settlement.

  • May 22, 2024

    Lead Blood Test Maker To Plead Guilty, Pay $42M Over Defects

    Medical device maker Magellan Diagnostics has agreed to pay at least $42 million and plead guilty to hiding a defect in its blood testing devices for lead that caused inaccurately low results for tens of thousands of children and others, Massachusetts federal prosecutors said.

  • May 22, 2024

    Mich. Judge Gives Final OK To Engineering Co. $8M Flint Deal

    A Michigan federal judge has granted final approval of an $8 million settlement between a civil engineering company and Flint, Michigan, residents, putting to rest claims the company failed to warn them of likely lead contamination that triggered a drinking water crisis in the city.

  • May 22, 2024

    CFPB Says Some Credit Card Standards Apply To BNPL Firms

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that shoppers using buy-now, pay-later products are covered by some of the same federal safeguards as those that apply to traditional credit cards, issuing the agency's first-ever guidance directed at this fintech-heavy field of financing.

  • May 21, 2024

    Hawaii Wins $916M From Bristol-Myers, Sanofi Over Plavix

    Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi owe more than $916 million to the state of Hawaii for not warning patients of East Asian or Pacific Island ancestry of potential health risks associated with their blood thinner Plavix, a state judge ruled Tuesday, following a trip to the state's highest court.

  • May 21, 2024

    Minn. Poised To Join State Data Privacy Law Patchwork

    Minnesota is on the brink of becoming the latest state to enact comprehensive data privacy legislation, after the legislature sent to the governor's desk a measure that would give consumers more control over how companies use their personal information, including for profiling purposes, and require businesses to appoint a lead privacy official. 

  • May 21, 2024

    Pacific Seafood Beats Crab Price-Fixing Claims, For Now

    A California federal magistrate judge on Tuesday dismissed a proposed class action claiming Pacific Seafood fixed the price paid to fishers for Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest but will allow the fisherman who filed the suit the opportunity to amend most of his claims.

  • May 21, 2024

    Bungie's Code Copying Claims Questioned At Seattle Trial

    A top product security engineer at Bungie told a Seattle federal jury on Tuesday that a hacker accused of exploiting a popular game to make cheat software likely never had access to the game's source code and acknowledged the game company hasn't seen the cheat code that it claims amounts to copyright infringement.

  • May 21, 2024

    Realtors Want Rethink After DOJ Antitrust Probe Allowed

    The National Association of Realtors has asked the D.C. Circuit for a rehearing after the appeals court found the U.S. Department of Justice can reopen an antitrust investigation into the trade group despite an earlier agency settlement over the association's rules.

  • May 21, 2024

    Full 5th Circ. Urged To Rethink Blocking Student Loan Rule

    The U.S. Department of Education has asked the full Fifth Circuit to reconsider a recent preliminary injunction a three-judge panel ordered blocking changes to a program providing student loan forgiveness to borrowers defrauded by higher education institutions. It said the panel wrongly held that the department doesn't have the authority to determine whether a borrower has a valid defense to repayment.

  • May 21, 2024

    Banks Urged To Vote Out Exxon Leaders Who Sued Investors

    A group of state and city financial officials sent letters to some of the biggest banks and asset managers Tuesday urging them to vote against Exxon Mobil Corp.'s CEO and lead independent director at an upcoming annual meeting because of the company's lawsuit against a pair of environmentally minded activist investors.

  • May 21, 2024

    Molson Coors' Mimosas More Water Than Wine, Suit Says

    Two consumers hit Molson Coors Beverage Co. with a proposed class action Monday in Missouri federal court, alleging that the company's mimosa drinks are misbranded because they are not made with sparkling wine but rather made with sparkling water and sugar and contain only small amounts of orange juice.

  • May 21, 2024

    NTIA Explores Gov't Support For 6G Development

    The U.S. Department of Commerce is looking for input on how the government can aid in the development of 6G technology.

  • May 21, 2024

    Conn. Bank Hit With Suit Over 'Crippling' Overdraft Fees

    Connecticut-based Ion Bank is the latest financial institution to face a putative class action alleging it violated its agreements with customers by imposing overdraft fees on certain transactions.

  • May 21, 2024

    SEC Fines KeyBank Broker-Dealer Over Reg BI Failures

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday ordered Key Investment Services LLC to pay more than $200,000 for allegedly failing to address conflicts of interest with Regulation Best Interest.

Expert Analysis

  • How 2 CFPB Advisory Opinions Affect Reporting Agencies

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued two advisory opinions last month that demonstrate a continued commitment to address inaccuracies in background check reports and consumer file disclosures through broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, expanding on a coordinated federal agency effort, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • A Close Look At The FCC's Revised SIM Card Fraud Rules

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    Carolyn Mahoney and John Seiver at Davis Wright break down recently proposed revisions to the Federal Communications Commission's customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules for wireless providers, discuss the revisions' implications on artificial intelligence regulation, and provide tips to prevent SIM swap and port-out fraud.

  • What Retailers Should Note In Calif. Web Tracking Suits

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    As retailers face a deluge of class actions alleging the use of conventional web analytic tools violate wiretapping and eavesdropping provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, uncovering the path toward a narrow interpretation of the law will largely depend on how these cases proceed, say Matthew Pearson and Kareem Salem at BakerHostetler.

  • Del. Ruling Adds Momentum For Caremark Plaintiffs

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent opinion in Lebanon County Employees' Retirement Fund v. Collis could be viewed as expanding plaintiffs' ability to viably plead a Caremark claim against directors, so Delaware companies should be on heightened alert and focus on creating a record of board oversight, say attorneys at V&E.

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Election-Year Unknowns

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    In the final installment of this three-part article reviewing the top challenges for the maritime industry this year, Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight examines how the uncertainty surrounding the forthcoming U.S. election may affect the maritime sector — especially companies involved in offshore wind and deep-sea mining.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Environmental Challenges

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    In the second installment of this three-part article examining key concerns for the maritime sector this year, Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight considers how the industry will be affected by environmental concerns — including the growing push for decarbonization, and regulatory scrutiny around greenwashing and ESG issues.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • Following Banking Regulators' Breadcrumbs To 2024 Priorities

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    Through blog posts, speeches, and formal guidance and regulations, prudential and other federal and state financial regulators laid out a road map last year pointing to compliance priorities that should be reflected in financial institutions' planning this year, say Laurel Loomis Rimon and Gina Shabana at Jenner & Block.

  • How Biotech Deals May Help Competition, Despite FTC View

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    The Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Sanofi's proposed partnership with Maze Therapeutics highlights increasing skepticism of so-called killer acquisitions, but a closer look reveals potentially legitimate reasons behind why entities might decide to delay or abandon the development of acquired products, say consultants at Analysis Group.

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Geopolitics And Sanctions

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    Major challenges are on the horizon for the U.S. maritime sector in 2024, including geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea and ever-evolving sanctions targeting Iran and Russia — which may lead to higher shipping costs and greater compliance burdens for stakeholders, says Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight.

  • Directors And Officers Face Unique AI-Related Risks

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    As privacy, intellectual property and discrimination lawsuits focusing on artificial intelligence increase, corporate directors and officers must stay aware of associated risks, including those related to compliance, litigation and cybersecurity, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • New Strain Of Web Tracking Suits Pose Risks For Retailers

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    Amid an ongoing surge of California state and federal lawsuits that are using novel theories to allege companies used certain recording technologies to illegally track website users, retailers should take steps to develop a potential argument that customers consented to any alleged uses of these devices, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • The Questions Around Prometheum's SEC-Compliant Strategy

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    While the rest of the crypto industry has been engaged in a long-running battle to escape the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction, a once-obscure startup called Prometheum has instead embraced the SEC's view to become the first crypto special-purpose broker-dealer, but it's unclear whether it can turn its favored status into a workable business, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.

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