Consumer Protection

  • October 01, 2026

    Classes Certified In Ford Diesel Fuel Pump Suit

    A Michigan federal judge has certified classes of truck owners in five states who allege that defective fuel pumps in Ford Motor Co.'s diesel trucks can suddenly fail and cost more than $10,000 in repairs, and, despite trimming some claims, also denied Ford judgment on the core causation issue in the case. 

  • October 01, 2026

    Water Utilities Say EPA Rule Defines Them Too Broadly

    The fate of a federal plan to eliminate the nation's lead drinking-water pipes may come down to a debate over the definition of a public water system.

  • October 01, 2026

    Google Ad Tech MDL Teed Up For Trial Largely Intact

    Gannett, the Daily Mail and a certified class of website publishers scored a major win with a New York federal court ruling largely refusing to let Google scrap antitrust allegations targeting its advertising placement technology business in sprawling multidistrict litigation.

  • October 01, 2026

    DOJ's RealPage Deal Doesn't End States' Antitrust Claims

    A North Carolina federal court has refused to toss antitrust claims from state enforcers accusing RealPage of providing software that allows residential building owners to inflate rents, despite RealPage's settlement in the case with the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 01, 2026

    Fla. Doc Says He Opposed Cruise Co.'s Billing, Got Fired

    A doctor has brought a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings Ltd. in Florida federal court, alleging he lost his job after speaking out against what he believed were fraudulent practices to overcharge passengers for medical services that weren't necessary. 

  • October 01, 2026

    Ex-Actavis Exec Escapes Some Drug Price-Fixing Claims

    A Connecticut federal judge has dismissed a swath of claims against a former executive of Actavis and Taro in the generic drug price‑fixing litigation brought by state enforcers, holding that evidence was insufficient to prove he joined several alleged single‑drug conspiracies.

  • October 01, 2026

    CFPB Couldn't Verify Security Of Tech Left In Offices, IG Says

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau left computer equipment sitting in its now-closed regional offices for more than a year and a half without confirming that the hardware, and any sensitive material on it, was locked down, a federal watchdog said Thursday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Dems Want FHFA To Restore Internal Watchdog's Funding

    A group of 11 Democratic U.S. Senators told the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday not to proceed with "unlawfully slashing" the FHFA's Office of Inspector General budget for fiscal year 2027.

  • October 01, 2026

    NY, Wyo. To Collaborate For Faster Crypto Reviews, Exams

    Financial regulators in New York and Wyoming on Thursday said they have agreed to collaborate on crypto oversight in ways that could cut down on duplicative review processes and exams for fintechs operating in both states.

  • October 01, 2026

    Merrill Lynch To Pay $39M Over Retirement Cash Sweep Rates

    Bank of America's Merrill Lynch unit has reached a $39 million settlement with account holders in a suit alleging the wealth management division swept idle funds in customers' retirement accounts into low-interest accounts instead of paying the proper market interest rates.

  • October 01, 2026

    SmartSweets Sued Over Artificial Citric Acid In 'Natural' Candy

    A New York woman is suing SmartSweets Inc. in New York federal court, alleging its "better-for-you" candy, which is marketed as having no artificial flavors, contains artificial citric acid, deceiving consumers.

  • October 01, 2026

    Diageo Beats Tequila Purity Suit Due To Sparse Testing

    Global liquor giant Diageo North America Inc. has defeated claims that it falsely labeled tequilas Casamigos and Don Julio as 100% agave after a New York federal judge said the plaintiff consumers failed to show the alleged adulteration was widespread or found within their bottles.

  • October 01, 2026

    Kalshi Looks To Shield Sports Offerings At 2nd Circ.

    Prediction market giant Kalshi has asked the Second Circuit to shield its sports offerings from Connecticut gaming enforcers, drilling down on its position that those offerings ought to be immune from state scrutiny.

  • October 01, 2026

    Fla. AG Says Pfizer Hid COVID Vax Risks From Consumers

    Florida's attorney general sued Pfizer and its CEO on Thursday, claiming they deceptively marketed the pharmaceutical company's COVID-19 vaccines as safe despite knowing of reports of adverse events.

  • October 01, 2026

    Meta Beats Calif. Drivers' DMV Data Collection Suit

    A California federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action alleging Meta Platforms Inc. illegally obtained information from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles through its Pixel software, saying the plaintiffs leading the complaint haven't shown that Meta got any personal or embarrassing information.

  • October 01, 2026

    Google Shakes Suit Over Search Engine Default Agreements

    A proposed consumer class action accusing Google of monopolizing the online search market has been tossed by a California federal judge who said the plaintiffs didn't provide evidence showing that "better" options could have been available if Google hadn't struck default search engine deals with Apple and other companies.

  • October 01, 2026

    Online Vape Store Adds Junk Fees To Orders, Suit Claims

    A pair of vape buyers are suing Element Vape in California state court, alleging the vape seller adds junk fees to its orders in the form of a "route package protection fee" that adds virtually no value for the customer.

  • October 01, 2026

    US Adds Certain Faux Leather To Textiles Free Trade List

    Certain faux leather fabric that is bonded to a pile fabric will be added to the list of textiles that can enter the U.S. duty-free under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, the federal government said Thursday.

  • 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

    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.

Expert Analysis

  • Elder Fraud Risk And Pleading Lessons From Meta Cases

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

  • FCC Robotics Restrictions Raise AI Compliance Risks

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    A recent "covered list" update from the Federal Communications Commission places restrictions on foreign-produced advanced robotic devices’ ability to obtain new authorizations, creating a framework that is poorly suited to continuous artificial intelligence updates, and raising several transactional and contractual challenges, says Kim Larsen at Stinson.

  • What Greek Tragedy Teaches About Mediating AI Disputes

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    While ancient Greek writers could not have anticipated modern arbitration, their tragic plays illustrate new and familiar questions for mediators dealing with artificial intelligence disputes, including the functional differences between adjudication and resolution, says Giuseppe De Palo at JAMS.

  • AML Takes Center Stage In Financial Crime Enforcement

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    Financial Crimes Enforcement Network actions, including its recent anti-money-laundering penalty against UBS, signal that companies should align sanctions and anti-corruption controls with documented risk assessments, quickly escalate and investigate red flags, and test remediation as enforcement intensifies, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

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    State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

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    California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

  • The Preemption Gap In Prediction Market High Court Petitions

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    The Supreme Court is considering three certiorari petitions following a split in prediction market litigation between the Third and Ninth circuits, but one of the petitions would not allow the court to reach the express preemption question, which would leave the dispute half-resolved, says Jordan Garman at Withers.

  • Series

    Fintech Regulator Outlook: 5 Lessons From Minnesota

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    Minnesota's recent cryptocurrency kiosk ban and virtual currency custody rules hold several broad compliance lessons: Digital asset companies must map regulated activities, strengthen third-party oversight and engage regulators early to innovate responsibly, says Deputy Commissioner of Financial Institutions Mike Crow at the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

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