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Consumer Protection
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April 16, 2024
South State Bank Breach Exposed 1 Million People, Suit Says
South State Bank is facing a proposed class action accusing it of negligence following a February data breach that allegedly compromised the personal information of more than a million current and former customers.
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April 16, 2024
Public Advocates Say Surveillance Cams Could Disrupt Wi-Fi
Advocacy groups are banding together against Axon's bid for a Federal Communications Commission rule waiver to operate high-powered surveillance cameras, saying their signals could disrupt Wi-Fi use, especially in low-income neighborhoods.
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April 16, 2024
Court Urged Not To Quash Google's Agency Subpoenas
A special master has recommended that a Texas federal court allow Google to interview witnesses from three state agencies as the tech giant defends against a case from state-level enforcers accusing it of monopolizing key digital advertising technology.
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April 16, 2024
Zuckerberg Dodges Liability In Meta Addiction MDL, For Now
A California federal judge has tossed certain fraud-by-omission claims seeking to hold Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally liable in sprawling multidistrict litigation over social media platforms' allegedly addictive design, but she allowed the plaintiffs to amend their allegations to assert a new theory of corporate officer liability against Zuckerberg.
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April 16, 2024
FTC To Unveil, Vote On Final Noncompetes Ban April 23
The Federal Trade Commission gave a one-week heads up Tuesday of its impending unveiling of — and vote on — the final version of a rule that would ban essentially all noncompete agreements employers impose on their workers.
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April 16, 2024
Binance.US Adds Ex-NY Fed Compliance Chief To Board
Binance.US announced Tuesday that it had brought aboard a seasoned compliance and regulation expert to join its board of directors, three months after the cryptocurrency platform hired a new top compliance officer amid federal regulators' ongoing scrutiny of the platform.
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April 16, 2024
Capital One Escapes Customer Sign-Up Bonus Suit, For Now
A California federal judge dismissed a proposed class action brought by a Capital One customer who claimed he applied for a credit card but never got a promised sign-up bonus, saying that a social media advertisement about a bonus was not enough to allege traceability.
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April 16, 2024
Chancery Tosses Zelle Fraud Suit Against JPMorgan Directors
A JPMorgan Chase & Co. shareholder that sued the bank's board for allegedly ignoring fraud on the payment platform Zelle has not shown the bank failed to respond to the problem, a Delaware Chancery Court judge ruled Tuesday, dismissing the shareholder's case.
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April 15, 2024
Mental Health Co. Cerebral To Pay $7M Over Data Failures
Mental health service provider Cerebral Inc. will pay more than $7 million to settle claims from the Federal Trade Commission, saying it failed to protect users' sensitive health data and made it difficult for patients to cancel services and stop recurring charges, according to a Monday court filing.
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April 15, 2024
Dems Grill Chamber Over 'Outrageous' CFPB Card Fee Suit
Two top Democratic senators are calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to explain why it sued to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee rule, a case they say is "outrageous" and puts the interests of big banks over the group's rank and file.
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April 15, 2024
SeaWorld's Sesame Park Visitors Can't Get Cert. In Bias Fight
A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Monday to certify a class of Hispanic and Black customers who allege performers at the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc.-owned theme park Sesame Place discriminated against and ignored minority children, finding that the proposed 130 children class size is based on inadmissible speculation.
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April 15, 2024
EPA Says Legacy Asbestos Poses Unreasonable Risk
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Monday its long-awaited draft for the second part of its asbestos risk evaluation, which determined handling asbestos associated with legacy uses presents undue human health risks.
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April 15, 2024
Calif. Cannabis Co. Stiiizy Sued Over Delta-8 Products
California cannabis giant Stiiizy has been accused of selling products which were touted as federally compliant hemp wares but purportedly had high enough levels of psychoactive THC to qualify as marijuana products, according to a proposed class action in Illinois federal court.
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April 15, 2024
MGM Slams FTC Probe After Cyberattack During Khan Visit
MGM Resorts International on Monday accused the Federal Trade Commission of launching an "unconstitutional" investigation into its data protection practices after FTC Chair Lina Khan stayed at an MGM hotel in Las Vegas during a major cyberattack last year, according to a suit filed in D.C. federal court.
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April 15, 2024
Whistleblower Says Lab Co. Ran COVID-Testing Scheme
A California-based diagnostics firm and its CEO have been hit with a whistleblower suit in Washington federal court by an ex-lab director who claims an affiliated company flouted regulatory standards and fraudulently billed government healthcare programs for COVID-19 tests on patients with private insurance.
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April 15, 2024
4th Circ. Won't Let Borrower Pin Feds' Flub On Pa. Agency
The Fourth Circuit refused Monday to revive a lawsuit brought by a borrower alleging that a state student-loan-servicing agency's misrepresentations thwarted a loan forgiveness opportunity, with a panel reasoning that the organization was immune from the lawsuit.
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April 15, 2024
House Rejects Bid To Overturn Spy Bill Authorization
The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected an attempt to overturn legislation reauthorizing a controversial foreign surveillance program after several Republican lawmakers took issue with the exclusion of a warrant requirement for accessing U.S. citizens' information.
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April 15, 2024
Minimize Nat'l Security Regs On Broadband, Verizon Says
Verizon said the Federal Communications Commission should not impose national security reviews that could disrupt existing broadband service when it passes a net neutrality order as expected this month.
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April 15, 2024
Doc's NDAs Illegally Silenced Negative Reviews, Judge Says
A Washington state plastic surgery practice illegally required patients to sign pretreatment nondisclosure agreements that threatened to punish them for posting negative online reviews, a Washington federal judge has determined.
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April 15, 2024
CFPB Hits Back At Bank Challenge To Small-Biz Lending Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has urged a Texas federal judge to dispense with an industry-backed challenge to its now-stayed reporting requirements for lenders in the nearly $2 trillion small-business loan market, arguing much of the case boils down to a beef with Congress for mandating the requirements in the first place.
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April 15, 2024
Apple Faces Two Suits Over IPhone Market Dominance
Apple has been hit with a pair of suits alleging it has unfairly stifled competition in the smartphone market and that its practices and iPhone sales have violated federal securities and antitrust laws.
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April 15, 2024
Pet Food Brand Chicken Soup Says Supplier Hiked Costs
A manufacturer that supplied the Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food brand bought ingredients from its own subsidiary, hiked prices and failed to deliver products, according to a response to the manufacturer's $3.1 million allegation that the name brand failed to pay for food already manufactured and sold to consumers.
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April 15, 2024
L'Occitane Privacy Suit Against Zimmerman Reed Trimmed
A Los Angeles federal court is weighing ending a suit by L'Occitane against Zimmerman Reed LLP and thousands of clients who complained that the company's website tracking tools violated their online privacy, after denying a bid by defendants to compel arbitration and tossing a claim that Zimmerman Reed violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
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April 15, 2024
Apple Defends Anti-Steering Rule Compliance In Epic Case
Apple told a California federal court it has fully complied with an order barring anti-steering rules in its App Store and said complaints from Epic Games, Microsoft and others about its compliance are just efforts by the companies to pad their own profits.
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April 15, 2024
Meta, FTC Pause Constitutionality Fight For High Court Ruling
Meta and the Federal Trade Commission agreed Monday to pause Meta's challenge of FTC changes to a 2020 settlement over user privacy until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on a similar case involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 'Undue Hardship'
Former U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Gordon reflects on his journey from student borrower to judicial observer, highlighting the challenges faced by modern students burdened with student loan debt and advocating for reform in bankruptcy laws, particularly regarding the "undue hardship" element of discharge.
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Opinion
Suits Against Insulin Pricing Are Driven By Rebate Addiction
A growing wave of lawsuits filed by states, cities and counties against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly allocate the blame for rising insulin costs, when in actuality the plaintiffs are partially responsible, says Dan Leonard at Granite Capitol Consulting.
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Conn. Data Privacy Enforcement Takeaways For Cos.
In light of the Connecticut attorney general's recently released report on its enforcement of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which focuses on companies' privacy policies, protections of sensitive data and more, businesses can expect increased enforcement scrutiny — especially in areas that are the subject of consumer complaints, say Paul Pittman and Abdul Hafiz at White & Case.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition
Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Regulatory Trends Offer 4 Lessons For Debt Relief Providers
A string of enforcement actions, including a New York lawsuit filed last month by seven states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, underscore the regulatory scrutiny that debt relief and credit repair companies face and offer important lessons on telemarketing and deceptive practices compliance, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Opinion
Contractors Need Protection From NJ Homeowner Protections
A recently passed New Jersey law, combined with the state's Consumer Fraud Act, is intended to protect innocent homeowners, but legislative action must be taken to prevent homeowners from abusing the law to avoid paying hardworking contractors, say Gary Strong and Madison Calkins at Gfeller Laurie.
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Bracing Cos. For Calif. Privacy Agency's Restored Authority
A recent California state appeals court decision greenlights the California Privacy Protection Agency's enforcement of certain consumer privacy regulations, which may speed up compliance requirements, so businesses considering use of artificial intelligence, for instance, may want to reassess their handling of privacy notices and opt-out requests, say Kevin Angle and Matthew Cin at Ropes & Gray.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Basics Of Bank Regulators' Push For Discount Window Use
As the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency emphasize short-term liquidity risk management as central to preventing spring 2023-style bank collapses, banks should carefully tune into regulators’ remarks encouraging use of the Fed’s discount window, which some policymakers identify as a key component in the evolution of liquidity regulation and backstop lending, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions
Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Communication Is Key As CFPB Updates Appeals Process
Though a recently updated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule expands financial institutions' abilities to appeal supervisory decisions, creating strong relationships and open communication channels with CFPB examiners may help resolve disputes faster than the more cumbersome formal process, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.