Consumer Protection

  • May 20, 2024

    CFPB Fines Debt Relief Co. $400K For Charging Illegal Fees

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday ordered Western Benefits Group to pay a $400,000 civil money penalty and permanently cease operations after finding that the company charged illegal advanced fees for student loan debt relief services and falsely told consumers the advanced fees would be applied toward paying down their debt.

  • May 20, 2024

    Texas Atty Chided For 'Crappy Strategy' Of Ducking Subpoena

    A transplant surgeon at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center accused of tampering with patients' donor acceptance criteria failed to show up to a Houston court hearing — partly thanks to his attorney — in three families' wrongful death case after being subpoenaed, in what a Harris County judge told his attorney was "a crappy strategy."

  • May 20, 2024

    DOJ Says Google Ad Tech Case About Coercion, Not Dealing

    The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Virginia federal judge Friday to preserve its case accusing Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technology, arguing the search giant is misconstruing a case that is really about forcing customers to use its ad exchanges, not about who the company does business with.

  • May 20, 2024

    Ultragenyx Must Face Suit Over Use Of Henrietta Lacks' Cells

    The family of the late Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were harvested without her knowledge to create the first immortalized human cell line, can pursue their suit alleging Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical "made a fortune" using her stolen cells to develop gene therapy treatments, a Maryland federal judge ruled Monday.

  • May 20, 2024

    FTC Says Albertsons Execs Deleted Texts In Kroger Case

    Kroger and the Federal Trade Commission are at each other's throats over discovery in the agency's in-house challenge to the grocery giant's $25 billion merger with Albertsons and in district court, with the grocers accusing the agency of "running out the clock" and the FTC accusing the grocers of deleting text messages.

  • May 20, 2024

    Texas' Naive Witness 'Unacceptable' In Google Ad Tech Suit

    A judge overseeing a Texas-led lawsuit accusing Google of anti-competitive conduct in the display advertising market has ordered the attorneys general bringing the litigation to provide an adequate witness who can speak to certain facts about the investigation, calling their failure to do so "puzzling and unacceptable."

  • May 20, 2024

    FCC Told Ad Disclosure Rule Would Violate APA, Free Speech

    Broadcasters are continuing their push to get the Federal Communications Commission to drop the potential inclusion of some political ads and public service announcements from proposed foreign disclosure rules, this time saying that the rule would violate the First Amendment.

  • May 20, 2024

    Kepler Backs SpaceX Push To Revamp 'Big LEO' Band

    Satellite tech company Kepler Communications Inc. has urged the Federal Communications Commission to move forward with a potential new sharing framework for the "Big LEO" band as recently proposed by SpaceX.

  • May 20, 2024

    Alaska Airlines Rips Antitrust Suit Over $1.9B Hawaiian Merger

    Alaska Airlines has told a federal judge that its proposed merger with Hawaiian Airlines would enhance consumer choice and lower fares, rejecting allegations in an antitrust lawsuit that it would diminish service, cut jobs and erase a legacy brand in the Aloha State.

  • May 20, 2024

    Ga. Court Sends Fatal Restaurant Shooting Suit To Trial

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday said a lawsuit against an Atlanta-area restaurant and its security company over a 2016 shooting on the premises should proceed to trial.

  • May 20, 2024

    Agri Stats Can't Pause DOJ Antitrust Suit Discovery

    Agri Stats can't press pause on discovery while the Minnesota federal court overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust case against it decides whether to toss the enforcement action accusing the data compiler of helping meat processors swap sensitive business information.

  • May 20, 2024

    Senate Report Ties Automakers To Uyghur Forced Labor

    BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen imported cars and their parts that were manufactured by a Chinese company sanctioned for using forced labor, according to a congressional report released Monday raising concerns about compliance with recent measures to crack down on labor violations.

  • May 20, 2024

    Latham Hires 2 Skadden Healthcare Partners In DC

    Latham & Watkins LLP has picked up two healthcare and life sciences partners from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • May 20, 2024

    Calif. Atty Denies Role In Flint Water PR Stunt

    A California attorney representing a public relations firm told a Michigan federal judge on Monday that she had nothing to do with the firm's campaign attacking a lawyer suing one of its clients connected to the Flint water crisis. 

  • May 20, 2024

    T-Mobile Deals Threaten Mobile Network Operators, FCC Told

    A mobile virtual network operator is telling the Federal Communications Commission to better protect competition in the MVNO market, claiming in a new filing with the agency that T-Mobile has been using its newfound market power to bully its brands' competitors.

  • May 20, 2024

    Landlords Bring Another NY Rent Law Challenge To Top Court

    A coalition of landlords and advocacy groups brought yet another U.S. Supreme Court petition challenging 2019 changes to New York's rent stabilization laws, arguing that a Second Circuit's March decision in the state's favor misapplied several key high court decisions.

  • May 20, 2024

    Ga. Judge OKs $5M Atty Fees In $41M Acella Thyroid Deal

    A Georgia federal judge has signed off on a nearly $41.5 million class action settlement with Acella Pharmaceuticals LLC over faulty thyroid medication, while awarding the class attorneys another $5 million in legal fees courtesy of the pharma company.

  • May 20, 2024

    DC Says Vegas Hotels' Win Doesn't Negate RealPage Suit

    The District of Columbia has urged the D.C. Superior Court to not use a federal judge's recent decision in an antitrust case as the basis for dismissing its claims against two real estate companies embroiled in a larger price-fixing suit against software company RealPage Inc.

  • May 20, 2024

    FDIC's Gruenberg To Resign In Workplace Report Aftermath

    Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg committed Monday to resigning from his post amid continuing fallout from his agency's toxic workplace scandal, bending to mounting pressure for his exit.

  • May 17, 2024

    TikTok, Feds Ask DC Circ. To Fast-Track Potential Ban Row

    TikTok, a group of its creators and the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday all asked the D.C. Circuit to fast-track challenges to a new federal law that would exclude the popular app from the U.S. market unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent company.

  • May 17, 2024

    Meet The Attys Fighting Efforts To Ban TikTok

    Facing a potential federal ban, TikTok and creators on the platform have tapped a bevy of BigLaw heavyweights, including attorneys who have successfully led challenges to prior moves to shut down the popular social media platform and limit children's online activities, as well as a pair of litigators who've argued dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

  • May 17, 2024

    Apple OK'd New App Fees Despite Antitrust Ruling

    An Apple Inc. executive conceded during a high-stakes antitrust hearing Friday over Apple's compliance with a court-ordered ban on App Store anti-steering rules that executives decided to implement a new 27% fee on out-of-app transactions despite knowing a jury had recently found that similar Google fees violated antitrust laws.

  • May 17, 2024

    FCC Asked To Clarify PEG Capital Costs Aren't Franchise Fees

    Cities want the Federal Communications Commission to make clear in a new rule requiring "all-in" cable pricing disclosures that capital costs involved in public and educational channels don't fall under the definition of franchise fees.

  • May 17, 2024

    Co-Lead Counsel Named In Baby Food Toxins MDL

    A California federal judge has tapped attorneys from Wisner Baum LLP and the Wagstaff Law Firm PC to lead multidistrict litigation alleging products from baby food manufacturers and distributors, including Walmart Inc. and Gerber Products Co., contain toxic metals and caused children to develop autism spectrum disorder and other conditions.

  • May 17, 2024

    T-Mobile Must Face Sprint Merger Suit Before Appealing

    The Seventh Circuit summarily rejected T-Mobile's move for interlocutory appeal in a proposed consumer class action targeting the company's 2020 merger with Sprint, allowing the case to advance to discovery after the district court denied T-Mobile's motion to dismiss in the fall.

Expert Analysis

  • Banks Should Continue To Prep For CFPB Data Rule Rollout

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    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-supervised banks should not expect industry pressure to delay the rollout of proposed Section 1033 open banking rules, which regulate how consumer financial information flows between financial institutions, and prepare their required data access portals and compliance procedures now, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Calif. Video Recording Ruling May Affect Insured Exams

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    A recent California appellate decision, Myasnyankin v. Nationwide, allowing policyholders to video record all parties to an insurance examination under oath, has changed the rules of the road for EUOs and potentially opened Pandora's box for future disputes, say John Edson and Preston Bennett at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers

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    Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.

  • Fintech 'Prenups': Planning For A Card Program Breakup

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    After a year of economic downturns, some banks and their fintech partners are realizing they may have rushed to the altar without a good prenup, but planning ahead can curb both foreseeable and unexpected issues in the event of a termination of a bank-fintech card-issuing agreement, say Andrew Grant at Ketsal and Richard Malish at Community Federal Savings Bank.

  • Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies

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    As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.

  • 3 Notification Pitfalls To Avoid With Arbitration Provisions

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    In Lipsett v. Popular Bank, the Second Circuit found that a bank's arbitration provision was unenforceable due to insufficient notice to a customer that he was bound by the agreement, highlighting the importance of adequate communication of arbitration provisions, and customers' options for opting out, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Tips For Orgs Facing AI Data Privacy Compliance Challenges

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    Regulators around the world are actively seeking to enforce data privacy and consumer protection laws against companies providing artificial intelligence-related services, raising complex compliance questions in areas like transparency, data minimization, lawfulness of processing, data subject rights and higher risk activities, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC

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    Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.

  • Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims

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    Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.

  • Enforcement Risk Amid Increased Consumer Data Use

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    While no state has introduced a private right of action for noncompliance with a comprehensive consumer privacy law — except for the California Consumer Privacy Act's data breach provision — organizations and retailers face risk from enforcement actions by state attorneys general and privacy regulators, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling Is Cautionary Tale For Debt Collectors

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    A Florida bankruptcy court recently rejected the assertion that a debt purchaser was entitled to enforce a debt not correctly listed on the debtor's bankruptcy schedules, and the sanctions imposed provide a stark reminder on due diligence in debt collection practices, say Deborah Kovsky-Apap and Stefanie Jackman at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    The Problems In Calif. Draft Behavioral Ad Privacy Regs

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency has an opportunity with its automated decision-making technology and profiling rulemaking to harmonize California's regulation of data-driven advertising, but this will be a failure unless several things are changed in its proposed treatment of behavioral advertising, say Alan Friel and Kyle Fath at Squire Patton.

  • 5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.

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