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Consumer Protection
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May 13, 2024
Airlines Ask 5th Circ. To Void DOT 'Junk Fees' Disclosure Rule
A lead lobbying group for major U.S. airlines has asked the Fifth Circuit to vacate a recent final rule from the U.S. Department of Transportation requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, saying the agency overstepped with a needless rule that will only confuse consumers.
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May 13, 2024
FCC Defends 'Lead Generator' Robocall Rule To GOP Sens.
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is defending the agency's new "single seller" rule meant to limit robocalls and texts from comparison shopping sites, telling lawmakers that it will protect consumers from unwanted marketing.
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May 13, 2024
CFTC Sues Over $161M Cattle Ponzi Scheme After SEC Deal
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued two Texas men who allegedly ran a $161 million Ponzi scheme involving cattle trading, saying investor cash lined the men's pockets and went to paying off obligations to previous investors.
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May 13, 2024
Philips Wants Cleaner Co. To Chip In For $1B CPAP Deal
Koninklijke Philips NV has filed a third-party complaint in Pennsylvania federal court against SoClean Inc., which sells cleaning products for breathing devices, claiming SoClean and its parent should contribute to Philips' $1 billion settlement because its cleaners allegedly exacerbated the foam breakdown at the heart of the litigation.
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May 13, 2024
EPA Wrongly Approved New Chevron Chemicals, Group Says
A Mississippi community group has asked the D.C. Circuit to revoke the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authorization for Chevron Corp. to produce 18 new chemicals derived from plastic waste "despite their extreme health risks."
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May 13, 2024
Conn. AG Sues Altice Over 'Enhancement Fee'
Cable and internet service provider Altice illegally earned millions of dollars by charging consumers a monthly $6 "network enhancement fee" and failed to clearly disclose internet speed restrictions in violation of state law, Connecticut Attorney General William M. Tong said in a state court lawsuit on Monday.
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May 13, 2024
False Ad AriZona Suit Not In Bad Faith, Fee Opposition Argues
A plaintiff represented by an attorney known for false advertising suits against food and drink companies is asking an Illinois federal judge not to award attorney fees to AriZona Beverages USA LLC after the court threw out claims that it falsely advertised some of drinks as "lite," saying there was no bad faith in pursuing the suit.
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May 13, 2024
'Prolific' Asbestos Injury Firm Accused Of Fraud, Racketeering
A "prolific" Illinois-based asbestos litigation law firm allegedly engaged in a yearslong scheme involving perjured testimony, suppressed evidence and baseless claims to extract as much money from as many companies as possible, according to one of the companies repeatedly targeted by the firm.
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May 13, 2024
Justices Decline To Hear $3.5B Insurance Surplus Case
A proposed class action accusing an insurer of failing to return an over $3.5 billion surplus of underwriting profits back to policyholder members will be litigated in Illinois state court, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday, denying the company's bid for certiorari.
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May 13, 2024
Justices Reject COVID App Makers' Last-Ditch Apple Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt the latest blow Monday to app developers who've struck out at every turn on antitrust allegations over Apple's rejection of COVID-19-tracking and bitcoin apps, refusing to look at a Ninth Circuit's refusal to revive the lawsuit.
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May 10, 2024
Epic Judge Raises Eyebrows About Apple's New 27% App Fee
The California federal judge overseeing Epic's antitrust case against Apple challenged the terms the tech giant is using to comply with her order to allow app developers to send users to outside payment platforms, saying Friday that Apple appears to be trying to maintain its past revenue with a new 27% fee.
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May 10, 2024
Starship Enterprise Finders Accuse Auction House Of Fraud
A pair of friends who found the long-lost model of the USS Enterprise starship featured in the "Star Trek" TV series have accused a prominent auction house of cheating them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by secretly negotiating a cheaper deal with the son of the series creator for publicity.
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May 10, 2024
Ill. Residents Ask Court To Void Alaskan Tribal Co. Loans
Six borrowers accusing an Alaska-based tribal lending company of making usurious loans at annual rates of as much as 700% or more have filed suit in Illinois federal court, saying it violated racketeering laws and must void the already existing debt.
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May 10, 2024
Bakery To Face Ex-Worker's Finger Scan Suit In State Court
An Illinois judge has remanded most of a suit accusing Gold Standard Baking Inc. of unlawfully collecting biometric data for timekeeping purposes, finding that claims related to fingerprint scans collected while she was a temporary worker could stand while captures made after she became a company employee were preempted by federal labor-contract law.
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May 10, 2024
SEC Opposes Quick Appeal Of 'Crystal Clear' Coinbase Order
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday urged a Manhattan federal court to reject Coinbase's bid for a Second Circuit review of an order allowing an agency enforcement action to proceed, saying the company's cries of uncertainty over how securities laws apply to crypto assets ignore the "crystal-clear" order it is trying to contest.
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May 10, 2024
Dropbox Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach
A Dropbox Inc. user has claimed that the file-hosting service failed to properly safeguard users' personal data, which was exposed in a breach last month, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.
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May 10, 2024
Congress Wants Microsoft Prez To Testify On Security Failures
A congressional committee has asked Microsoft President Brad Smith to testify at a public hearing about the company's cybersecurity measures and response to recent successful attacks against government officials by Russian and Chinese hackers, according to a letter posted Friday on social media platform X.
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May 10, 2024
TV Guru's New Judge Will 'Bite The Bullet' To Help FTC Case
An Illinois federal judge who inherited a 21-year-old fraud case against weight-loss guru Kevin Trudeau said Friday that he's going to "bite the bullet" and try to address some of the enforcement case's "borderline unsolvable" problems to hopefully streamline litigation and aid judgment collection efforts.
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May 10, 2024
Full 4th Circ. Urged To Settle Key 'Texas Two-Step' Questions
A Fourth Circuit panel left critical issues open when it denied permission to an appeal challenging the so-called Texas two-step Chapter 11 of industrial equipment maker Aldrich Pump, asbestos claimants in two separate bankruptcy cases said, asking the full appeals court to reconsider hearing the case and settle questions that have plagued their own bankruptcies in the Western District of North Carolina.
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May 10, 2024
Vegas Hotels, Software Cos. Escape Price-Algorithm Suit
A Nevada federal judge has permanently tossed a proposed class action that accused two software companies and multiple hotel operators of using an algorithm software in a price-fixing scheme for hotel room prices on the Las Vegas Strip.
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May 10, 2024
Oil Giants Say Tribal Climate Change Row Must Stay Federal
Several giant oil companies are fighting a bid by two Native American tribes to remand their consolidated case to state court, telling a Washington federal district court that the claims brought by tribes have always been governed by federal law.
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May 10, 2024
Chamber OK'd To Intervene Against FTC Noncompete Rule
A Texas federal judge gave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce the go-ahead to intervene in Ryan LLC's first-to-file challenge of the Federal Trade Commission's ban on employee contract noncompete agreements, putting the trade group back in the fight after its own lawsuit was paused.
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May 10, 2024
EPA Tightens Copper-Smelting Toxic Emissions Standards
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing regulations it says will reduce toxic, cancer-causing emissions from copper-smelting facilities.
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May 10, 2024
CFPB's Credit Card Late Fee Rule Halted By Texas Judge
A Texas federal judge on Friday stayed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee standard, granting a preliminary injunction sought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups that are challenging the legality of the agency rule.
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May 10, 2024
Kraken Says SEC's Crypto Theory Would 'Gut Howey'
Crypto exchange Kraken told a California federal judge that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's theory of why token sales on public exchanges offend securities laws could lead to a "significant reordering of the U.S.'s financial regulatory structure" if the agency's enforcement action against its parent companies is upheld.
Expert Analysis
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Tips For Orgs Facing AI Data Privacy Compliance Challenges
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.
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What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC
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.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
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.
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Enforcement Risk Amid Increased Consumer Data Use
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.
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Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
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.
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What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.
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.
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Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling Is Cautionary Tale For Debt Collectors
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.
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Opinion
The Problems In Calif. Draft Behavioral Ad Privacy Regs
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.
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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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The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases
A recent California federal court partial class certification ruling was a rare victory for plaintiffs in a case over slack-fill empty space in packaged products, indicating that damages arguments may be important at the certification stage, say Sushrut Jain and Valentina Bernasconi at Edgeworth Economics.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer
A case pending in the Southern District of New York will examine whether decentralized crypto co-op MakerDAO is a partnership with the capacity to be sued in federal court, and the decision could shape how legal frameworks will adapt to accommodate blockchain technologies moving forward, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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How Breach Reporting Is Changing For Financial Institutions
In May, the Federal Trade Commission's amended Safeguards Rule will extend the data protections that apply to information held by banks to information held by nonbanking financial institutions — and sweep even more broadly in some critical aspects, say Evan Yahng and Kurt Hunt at Dinsmore.
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Opinion
UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.