Consumer Protection

  • July 19, 2024

    Boehringer Long Ignored Zantac's Cancer Signs, Jury Hears

    Boehringer Ingelheim had the warning signs for years suggesting Zantac's active ingredient degraded into a carcinogen but "purposefully ignored" them to market the drug as a safe and effective heartburn treatment, a prostate cancer patient told a Cook County, Illinois, jury Friday.

  • July 19, 2024

    Calif. Justices Revive Row Over State Farm's Claims Handling

    California's Supreme Court revived a policyholder's case over State Farm's claims-handling practices, reversing an appeals court decision and agreeing with the state's attorney general that California's statute of limitations on unfair competition actions, not the policy or insurance code, governed the timing of the case.

  • July 19, 2024

    What The End Of Chevron Means For FTC Rulemaking

    Federal agencies can no longer expect courts to defer to their interpretation of challenged regulatory authorities under a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling the Federal Trade Commission expects will have no "significant impact," but that observers say could help trip up a noncompetes ban and perhaps other efforts.

  • July 19, 2024

    FTC Eyes Mid-Nov. Texas Hearing Against Mattress Merger

    The Federal Trade Commission's case against Tempur Sealy's $4 billion planned Mattress Firm purchase is set to kick off in Texas federal court Nov. 14, the parties told an agency in-house judge Friday during a scheduling hearing.

  • July 19, 2024

    Fla. Man Charged With Selling Fake Tribal Jewelry In Wis.

    A Florida man has been charged with several fraud-related counts after he was allegedly caught selling fake Native American jewelry at arts and crafts shows across the country, according to a grand jury indictment handed down in Wisconsin federal court.

  • July 19, 2024

    San Francisco Lawmaker Floats Rent Algorithm Software Ban

    A San Francisco lawmaker proposed a ban that would prohibit selling or using software that can be used for rent price fixing, and took aim at property management software companies such as RealPage and Yardi for their software allegedly being used for such a purpose.

  • July 19, 2024

    A Guide To The USPTO's Long List Of Requests For Comment

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has kept attorneys busy this year by seeking input on numerous patent issues and proposed rules. Here's a cheat sheet to the topics where feedback has been collected, from fee hikes to director reviews, and those with upcoming comment deadlines, including artificial intelligence.

  • July 19, 2024

    Evolve Bank Leaked 7.6M Customers' Private Info, Suit Says

    Evolve Bank & Trust has been hit with a proposed class action in Tennessee federal court alleging it failed to adequately protect the personal information of 7.6 million individuals from a cyberattack and failed to conduct reasonable data security practices.

  • July 19, 2024

    Off The Bench: Trial Time For Jerry Jones, Sunday Ticket Row

    In this week's Off The Bench, Jerry Jones' legal battle with the woman claiming to be his daughter reaches a courtroom, Sunday Ticket subscribers clap back at the NFL, and soccer fans go after the stadium they could not enter for the Copa America final.

  • July 19, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Sales Exec Denies Fake Prescription Scheme

    The former vice president of sales for pharmaceutical company U.S. Compounding Inc. pled not guilty in Manhattan federal court Friday to forging fake horse drug prescriptions in order to juice revenues.

  • July 19, 2024

    FTC Says Microsoft Price Hike Shows Activision Deal Harm

    The Federal Trade Commission told the Ninth Circuit that Microsoft's recently announced Game Pass price increase is an example of the harm caused by the company's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc.

  • July 19, 2024

    Fed Fines Green Dot $44M Over Lax Compliance Program

    The Federal Reserve Board on Friday fined prepaid debit card issuer Green Dot $44 million, accusing it of violating consumer protection law through several unfair and deceptive practices and maintaining a "deficient" consumer compliance risk management program.

  • July 19, 2024

    FCC Looking Into 911 Disruptions From Global IT Outage

    The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was helping investigate 911 service disruptions that resulted from a global information technology outage that affected numerous industries, including telecommunications.

  • July 18, 2024

    Abbott Wins Trust Asset Freeze To Collect $33M In TM Fight

    A New York federal judge has agreed to freeze trusts tied to a couple who owe Abbott Laboratories $33.4 million in sprawling trademark litigation over gray-market diabetes test strips, finding an asset freeze is necessary due to the defendants' "pervasive and repeated" use of the trusts for personal expenses and gambling.

  • July 18, 2024

    Grindr Faces Privacy Suit By Prominent 'Outed' Catholic Priest

    Gay dating app Grindr allegedly sold a prominent Catholic priest's sensitive personal information, causing him to lose his position as the general secretariat for the national conference of U.S. bishops, the priest alleged in a lawsuit seeking damages in California state court.

  • July 18, 2024

    Crypto Law Firm's SEC Challenge Met With Doubt At 9th Circ.

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of a law firm's quest for a judgment that its use of the crypto asset ether doesn't offend securities laws, questioning whether the firm has shown it faces enough of a threat from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to keep its case against the regulator alive.

  • July 18, 2024

    8th Circ. Blocks Another Biden Student Debt Relief Plan

    The Eighth Circuit has blocked the Biden administration from implementing another plan for student loan forgiveness while the appellate court considers a Missouri-led state alliance's injunction request, according to an order entered Thursday.

  • July 18, 2024

    OCC's Hsu Calls For 'More Nuanced' Preemption Approach

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's acting chief has signaled plans for a potential shift in his agency's approach to federal preemption following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, calling for "more nuanced analysis" when evaluating the applicability of state laws to banks it oversees.

  • July 18, 2024

    American Airlines Beats Hidden Fees Suit Over Product Sales

    American Airlines defeated a proposed class action alleging it violated its conditions of carriage by failing to disclose that it gets fees for hawking Allianz Global travel assistance products to customers booking flights, after a Michigan federal judge said Thursday the plaintiff paid Allianz Global, not American Airlines, for the products.

  • July 18, 2024

    LPL Reaps Benefits From Forced Cash Sweep, Suit Says

    LPL Financial was hit with a putative class suit by a customer who claims the broker-dealer automatically moves customers' uninvested cash into its cash sweep programs, primarily benefiting the firm at the expense of its clients.

  • July 18, 2024

    Epic Says Apple's 'Strategic Delay' Tactics Still Ongoing

    The ongoing fight between Epic Games and Apple over the tech giant's compliance with a court order meant to open up app payment competition showed little sign of abating as Epic continued to blast Apple for slow and incomplete production.

  • July 18, 2024

    Chase Can't Arbitrate Returned-Check Suit, Customers Say

    Chase Bank customers have urged a federal judge not to let the bank force them to arbitrate a complaint over fees charged on deposited checks that were returned, arguing that they never agreed to an arbitration clause and that the bank failed to prove their consent to arbitration.

  • July 18, 2024

    State PUCs Urged To Keep Eye On Broadband Projects

    States need to step up and do more to ensure that telecommunication companies working on Rural Digital Opportunity Fund projects within their borders do the work they committed to doing on time, according to a former Federal Communications Commission official.

  • July 18, 2024

    Live Nation Previews Part Of Case Against DOJ Suit

    Live Nation and Ticketmaster have teed up part of their fight against an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and multiple state attorneys general, arguing that the state law claims are "threadbare" and that a chunk of the DOJ case amounts to trying to force them to deal with competitors.

  • July 18, 2024

    FCC Votes On Party Lines To Subsidize Wi-Fi For Students

    The Federal Communications Commission voted along a partisan divide Thursday to expand a federal school and library subsidy to cover Wi-Fi services for students to remedy gaps in broadband access.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • What Passage Of House Crypto Bill Could Mean For Industry

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    While the prospects of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which recently passed the House in a bipartisan fashion, becoming law remain murky, the manner of its passage may give crypto markets a real cause for hope, say Neel Maitra and Dale Beggs at Dechert.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 saw less enforcement activity in the realm of New York financial services, but brought substantial regulatory and legislative developments, including state regulators' guidance on cybersecurity compliance and customer service processes for virtual currency entities, say James Vivenzio and Andrew Lucas at Perkins Coie.

  • 4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review

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    The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.

  • FTC Focus: Competition And The Right To Repair

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    If the Federal Trade Commission includes commercial and industrial products as part of copyright exemptions that allow consumers to modify or repair products, then businesses and affected rights holders will need to consider copyrights' impact on infringement issues, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Advisers Can Avoid Gaps In SEC Marketing Rule Compliance

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    A recent risk alert from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the enforcement history of the marketing rule indicate that advisers have encountered persistent difficulties in achieving compliance — but there are steps advisers can take to mitigate risks of violations, say Scott Moss and Jimmy Kang at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Air Ambulance Ruling Severely Undermines No Surprises Act

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision in Guardian Flight v. Health Care Service — that the No Surprises Act lacks a judicial remedy when a health insurer refuses to pay the amount established through an independent review — likely throws a huge monkey wrench into the elaborate protections the NSA was enacted to provide, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • In Biz Account Breaches, Look Beyond The Payment Platform

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    A business's legal path to recovering funds after bad actors access a payment platform account and engage in unauthorized transactions can lead into murky legal territory where liability is unclear, and pursuing the payment platform itself will be an uphill, if not insurmountable, struggle, say Edward Marshall and Morgan Harrison at Arnall Golden.

  • 4 Steps To Repair Defense Credibility In Opening Statements

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    Given the continued rise of record-breaking verdicts, defense counsel need to consider fresh approaches to counteract the factors coloring juror attitudes — starting with a formula for rebuilding credibility at the very beginning of opening statements, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.

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