Consumer Protection

  • May 15, 2024

    School, Library Advocates Oppose 'Eyes On The Board Act'

    Tying E-rate funds to a school's willingness to restrict students' social media access while at school is a bad idea, a quartet of school and library advocates are telling Senate leaders in response to a bill that would do just that.

  • May 15, 2024

    Ex-FTX Exec Seeks Leniency, Saying He Was Kept In The Dark

    A former top FTX official has asked a Manhattan federal judge for a lenient 18-month sentence, saying he was not part of company co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle and was as shocked as everyone else to learn that the crypto exchange was operating a fraud that siphoned billions in customer funds.

  • May 15, 2024

    FCC Ramps Up Spectrum Strategy With New Steering Team

    The Federal Communications Commission has pulled together a team of experts to help the Biden administration develop the policies necessary to bring the president's national spectrum strategy to fruition, the agency announced Tuesday.

  • May 15, 2024

    Senators Release 'Road Map' For Crafting Federal AI Policy

    A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday laid out a "road map" for artificial intelligence policy that calls for increased AI innovation funding, testing of potential harms posed by AI and consideration of the technology's workforce implications.

  • May 15, 2024

    Klobuchar Wants FTC To Make Firms Report Real Estate Buys

    It's time for the Federal Trade Commission to require the companies and private equity firms gobbling up residential real estate to report those acquisitions to the agency for antitrust purposes the same way they have to report other big purchases, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said.

  • May 15, 2024

    Kirkland Guiding Billionaire McCourt On Bid To Buy TikTok

    Billionaire Frank McCourt, advised by Kirkland & Ellis, says he's building a consortium to purchase TikTok and redesign the platform to eliminate the collection of users' information, putting "people in control of their [own] digital identities and data." 

  • May 15, 2024

    Mortgage Co.'s $2.4M Data Breach Settlement Gets Initial OK

    A Connecticut federal judge gave her initial sign-off to a $2.4 million settlement between mortgage firm Planet Home Lending LLC and a consolidated class of customers whose personal data, including their Social Security numbers, was exposed in a cyberattack.

  • May 14, 2024

    In Hot Seat, FDIC's Gruenberg Pledges 'Fundamental Change'

    Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg will tell House lawmakers Wednesday that he is taking "full responsibility" for his agency's workplace misconduct scandal and eyeing "fundamental" structural reforms, striking a humbled but determined tone as he faces the first of two hearings that could be make-or-break for his job.

  • May 14, 2024

    Bedsheet Buyer Attys Clinch $3.5M Fee For Macy's Deal

    Lawyers representing a class of consumers that accused Macy's of lying about the thread count of its sheets will get $3.5 million as part of a $10.5 million settlement with the retailer, an Ohio federal judge ruled, but gave the lead plaintiffs a pittance, saying they did not work hard enough to get more.

  • May 14, 2024

    Asset Manager Cops To $1.2B Venezuelan Oil Co. Fraud

    An asset manager pled guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in a $1.2 billion scheme to embezzle money from Venezuela's state-owned oil company and launder it through false investment schemes in the U.S. and abroad.

  • May 14, 2024

    DOJ Says Boeing Violated 737 Max Deferred Prosecution Deal

    Boeing breached its deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice stemming from the deadly 737 Max 8 crashes, but the government hasn't yet decided whether it will criminally prosecute the American aerospace giant for defrauding regulators, the DOJ said in a Texas federal court filing Tuesday.

  • May 14, 2024

    Davis Wright-Led TikTok Creators Challenge Potential Ban

    Following TikTok Inc.'s lead, a group of creators on Tuesday lodged their own challenge 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, telling the D.C. Circuit that the measure undermines the First Amendment.

  • May 14, 2024

    DOJ Search Case Unveils Google-Apple Pact, Consumers Say

    Private plaintiffs are asking for another crack at their antitrust suit accusing Google of entering illegal agreements to serve as the iPhone's default search engine, saying newly discovered contracts unearthed from the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing case against the tech giant support a reconsideration.

  • May 14, 2024

    TV Execs Say Draft FCC Foreign Airtime Lease Regs 'Mutated'

    Television station executives are asking the Federal Communications Commission not to include political advertisements in a proposed rule that would require disclosure of foreign-sponsored airtime leases, arguing that doing so would be a "distortion" of the industry's previous request for clarification from the commission on previous identification rules.

  • May 14, 2024

    Ex-Wachovia Exec Owes $9M For Decade-Old Fraud, Feds Say

    A former senior trading executive-turned-Christian novelist still owes over $9 million in restitution on a 17-year-old conviction for a Ponzi-like scheme he ran while working for what was then Wachovia's investment banking unit, according to federal prosecutors.

  • May 14, 2024

    NC State Fights Cancer Patient's Presuit Building Access

    North Carolina State University is pressing the state appeals court to find it is insulated from an "unusual" order allowing a former graduate student worker diagnosed with cancer to inspect a campus building that tested high for levels of carcinogens.

  • May 14, 2024

    Mich. Biz Attys Back State's Securities Fraud Enforcement Bid

    Members of Michigan's state bar association have urged the state's highest court to adopt a U.S. Supreme Court test for determining whether promissory notes are securities, in support of an effort by the state securities regulator to bring an enforcement action against a condominium developer accused of failing to pay back investors. 

  • May 14, 2024

    Calif. City Sues Dow, Shell Over TCP-Tainted Water

    Dow Chemical and Shell USA are facing a negligence suit in California federal court by the city of Pomona, alleging the companies are responsible for manufacturing commercial products containing the toxic 1,2,3-trichloropropane that has migrated into the city's water supply and seeking to recoup costs over response efforts.

  • May 14, 2024

    RealPage, Landlords Look To Trim Ariz. Price-Fixing Case

    Rental algorithm company RealPage and several landlords have urged an Arizona state court to trim fraud claims from the attorney general's case accusing them of using software to illegally raise rents for hundreds of thousands of renters, and they also asked to limit the time frame for enforcers' antitrust claims.

  • May 14, 2024

    Couple Attacks Chase's 'Pack Of Lies' In $20M Loss Case

    An elderly couple claiming they lost tens of millions through bad investments with JPMorgan Chase Bank NA said in a heated Massachusetts federal court hearing Tuesday that the big bank shouldn't pocket a pretrial win based on a magistrate judge's "extreme" analysis.

  • May 14, 2024

    Vein Tech Maker Faces Investor Suit Over DOJ Kickback Probe

    Vein disease device maker Inari Medical Inc. and three of its current and former executives face a proposed investor class action over claims that the company's share price fell after it disclosed an investigation into its compliance with federal anti-kickback laws.

  • May 14, 2024

    Telecoms Settle FCC Probe Into Undersea Cables For $2M

    Two telecoms will pay $1 million each to resolve a Federal Communications Commission probe into an undersea cable system that connected the U.S. with Colombia and Costa Rica without FCC approval.

  • May 14, 2024

    Chamber Cautions FCC Against Making Anti-Arbitration Rules

    Business leaders told the Federal Communications Commission that it cannot bar wireless providers from requiring arbitration clauses with customers to resolve disputes arising from cellphone SIM card and port-out fraud.

  • May 14, 2024

    FTC Cleared To Sue Texas Anesthesia Co., But Not PE Firm

    A Texas federal judge highlighted the limits of the Federal Trade Commission's ability to go after private equity firms accused of anti-competitive "roll-up" strategies, tossing antitrust claims against a private equity firm while preserving monopolization allegations against the anesthesia group the firm created.

  • May 14, 2024

    Data Co. Workers Had No Power Over Scam Clients, Jury Told

    Lawyers for two former Epsilon Data Management employees told a Colorado federal jury Tuesday they weren't responsible for selling consumer data to phony sweepstakes and other Epsilon clients, arguing they were just following orders from executives who made the deals.

Expert Analysis

  • The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill

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    A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

  • What's Notable In JAMS' New Mass Arbitration Rules

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    The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services’ recently released guidelines, coming on the heels of similar American Arbitration Association amendments, suggests that mass arbitrations will remain an efficient means for consumers to vindicate their rights against companies, say Jonathan Waisnor and Brandon Heitmann at Labaton Keller. 

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

  • PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers

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    A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation

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    Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking

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    In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.

  • FDIC Bank Disclosure Rules Raise Important Questions

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rules mandating disclosures for nonbanks offering deposit products leave traditional financial institutions in a no-man's land between fintech-oriented requirements and the reality of personal service demanded by customers, say Paul Clark and Casey Jennings at Seward & Kissel.

  • Setting Goals For Kicking Corruption Off FIFA World Cup Field

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    The unprecedented tri-country nature of the 2026 men's World Cup will add to the complexity of an already complicated event, but best practices can help businesses stay on the right side of anti-corruption rules during this historic competition, say Sandra Moser and ​​​​​​​Emily Ahdieh at Morgan Lewis.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

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