Consumer Protection

  • November 26, 2024

    Google Search Judge Says AI Will Affect Remedy Phase

    The judge overseeing the government's search monopolization case against Google suggested Tuesday in D.C. federal court that artificial intelligence is shifting the market and will likely play a role in the remedies the court imposes on Google for allegedly violating antitrust law.

  • November 26, 2024

    T-Mobile, Sprint Slam FCC Privacy Fine At DC Circ.

    T-Mobile and Sprint are asking the D.C. Circuit to knock down $92 million in fines the FCC slapped them with for selling users' sensitive location data, saying that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision backs their contention they deserved a jury trial.

  • November 26, 2024

    Don't Undermine Existing CBRS Users, Wireless Cos. Tell FCC

    Businesses that rely on the Citizens Broadband Radio Service want the Federal Communications Commission to refrain from making any changes that could disrupt existing business users of the tiered access spectrum.

  • November 26, 2024

    Report Floats Indoor-Only Sharing For Federal Spectrum

    A public interest group is urging federal agencies to consider indoor-only use by new users across five spectrum bands currently occupied by federal users in order to allow sharing by private users without compromising the needs of military and other incumbent networks or risking interference.

  • November 26, 2024

    Hemp Org. Warns Farm Bill Would Ban Some Legal Products

    A major hemp trade organization said Tuesday the Senate Democrats' version of the Farm Bill has some "concerning" implications for hemp that could result in product bans.

  • November 26, 2024

    Mohawk Sues PFAS Manufacturers For Fraud

    The world's largest flooring manufacturer has sued 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., The Chemours Co., and Daikin America Inc. in Georgia state court, alleging the chemical manufacturers lied about the dangers of so-called forever chemicals in order to trick the company into purchasing their products.

  • November 26, 2024

    EchoStar, Navajo Push FCC For Fixed Wireless In 12 GHz

    EchoStar Corp. and other 12 gigahertz license holders said they can provide the Navajo Nation part of that spectrum band to help deploy broadband on tribal lands if the Federal Communications Commission paves the way for fixed 5G wireless services.

  • November 26, 2024

    5th Circ. Says CFPB Payday Rule Can Take Effect Next Year

    The Fifth Circuit said Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can begin requiring compliance with its payday lending rule in just a few months as planned, sidestepping a request from lender trade groups to keep a court-ordered stay in place for longer. 

  • November 26, 2024

    Autodesk Wants Out Of Investor Suit Over Internal Controls

    Autodesk Inc. asked a California federal judge on Tuesday to toss a proposed class action alleging the software company's stock price dropped after investors learned it lacked proper internal controls due to issues with its free cash flow and operating margin practices, saying its business plan statements at issue were "forward-looking" and accompanied by "cautionary" language.

  • November 26, 2024

    BofA Blames ID Fraudsters For Fake Accounts Behind Suit

    Bank of America told a North Carolina federal court that third-party identity theft is to blame for the alleged fake accounts that prompted proposed class claims, and cited Wells Fargo's escape from a similar suit as a reason to toss the case.

  • November 26, 2024

    Maine Launches Climate Fraud Suit Against Oil Giants

    Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey slapped Exxon, Shell, Chevron and other oil giants with a complaint in state court Tuesday, echoing claims asserted by other states and municipalities across the country that the companies carried out a successful climate deception campaign for decades.

  • November 26, 2024

    California's Top Bank, Fintech Regulator To Exit At Year's End

    The top banking and fintech regulator for California is departing from the state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation in a little more than a month, an agency spokesperson told Law360 on Tuesday.

  • November 26, 2024

    Chemical Co. Demands Defense Coverage In PFAS Foam MDL

    Specialty chemical company Clariant Corp. is suing five of its insurers in the North Carolina Business Court seeking defense costs in a host of underlying mass tort lawsuits over forever chemicals found in firefighting foam products.

  • November 26, 2024

    FTC Says AI Weapons-Screening Biz Hyped Faulty Scanners

    The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday accused Evolv Technologies of making false and unsupported claims that its AI-powered security screening products detect weapons while ignoring harmless personal items.

  • November 26, 2024

    Bojangles' Restaurants Sued Over Weekslong Cyberattack

    A former employee of Southern-style fast-food chain Bojangles' Restaurants Inc. said the company negligently failed to protect his and his proposed class members' personal information, allowing hackers to access it earlier this year in a cyberattack that lasted for weeks.

  • November 25, 2024

    Drake Says UMG Paid To Boost Kendrick Lamar's Diss Track

    Universal Music Group conspired with Spotify to blast Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" single to the top of the airwaves by using bots, pay-to-play agreements and other shady tactics at the expense of Drake and other artists, the Canadian rapper alleged Monday in a Manhattan court filing.

  • November 25, 2024

    Geico, Travelers To Pay NY $11.3M To Settle Data Security Row

    New York's financial services regulator and attorney general revealed Monday that they've hit Geico and Travelers with $11.3 million in penalties for the auto insurers' alleged failure to adequately secure driver's license numbers, birth dates and other personal information that was compromised as part of a hacking campaign targeting online rate quote tools.

  • November 25, 2024

    Pom Juice Maker Trims But Can't Nix 'Forever Chemicals' Suit

    A Manhattan federal judge on Monday pared down a putative class action alleging the makers of Pom pomegranate juice misled consumers about whether its products contained harmful "forever chemicals" while allowing claims of negligence and violation of New York's business laws to go forward.

  • November 25, 2024

    'Shameful': Dems Rip Credit Bureaus Over Scrapped Hearing

    Democratic senators on Monday lit into the Big Three credit bureaus for allegedly backing out of preelection commitments to testify last week before the Senate Banking Committee, calling the move "shortsighted and shameful."

  • November 25, 2024

    SEC Secured Historic $8.2B Enforcement Haul In 2024

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained $8.2 billion in civil penalties and disgorgement via successful enforcement actions in 2024, the highest amount in the history of the agency despite a significant decline in total enforcement actions, the SEC has announced. 

  • November 25, 2024

    Ad Tech Judge Says Google 'Completely Different' From Amex

    The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement business cast doubt Monday on a key element of the company's defense, asserting during closing arguments that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Amex decision, requiring consideration of two-sided markets, is far removed from Google's ad tech stack.

  • November 25, 2024

    Tuna Price-Fixing MDL Lead Attys Awarded $86M In Fees

    A California federal judge has agreed to award a combined total of $86 million in fees and costs to lead counsel representing two classes of canned tuna buyers who reached settlements in recent months with StarKist, Dongwon Industries and Lion Capital in a decadelong price-fixing case.

  • November 25, 2024

    Cruz Calls Digital Equity Program Rules 'Unlawful'

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is criticizing the U.S. Commerce Department's grant program created to encourage broadband use among minorities, saying it unlawfully discriminates based on race in distributing broadband funds.

  • November 25, 2024

    Grayscale Seeks Win In Rival's $2M Unfair Practices Suit

    Digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments LLC seeks a quick finding in its favor that certain securities-related conduct it is being sued over did not violate Connecticut's unfair trade practices law because the law has a securities matters carveout.

  • November 25, 2024

    Red Cross Misused $500M Haiti Earthquake Aid, Fla. Suit Says

    The Red Cross misused more than $500 million in donations intended to help Haiti recover following the country's 2010 earthquake, instead spending the money on covering a financial deficit and unrelated projects, according to a proposed class action filed Monday in Florida federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Staying Off The CFPB's Financial Services Offender Registry

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's soon-to-launch registry of financial services companies that have faced public enforcement orders is designed to ratchet up long-term scrutiny of entities that could become repeat offenders, so companies should take their new compliance and filing requirements seriously, say Andrea Mitchell and Chris Napier at Mitchell Sandler.

  • New TCPA Rule Faces Uncertain Future Post-Loper Bright

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    The Federal Communications Commission's new rule aiming to eliminate lead generators' use of unlawful robocalls is now in doubt with the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, and the Eleventh Circuit's Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC is poised to be a test case of the agency's ability to enforce the Telephone Consumer Protection Act post-Chevron, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations

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    A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.

  • Earned Wage Access Laws Form A Prickly Policy Patchwork

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    Conflicting earned wage access laws across the country, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently issued rule, mean providers must adopt a proactive compliance approach and adjust business models where needed, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What FDIC Expansion Of Change In Bank Control Could Mean

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    A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal pertaining to the Change in Bank Control Act has the potential to create uncertainty around investments by mutual fund complexes in banking organizations, which represent a stable source of capital for the banking industry, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • HSR Amendments Intensify Merger Filing Burdens, Data Risk

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    The antitrust agencies' long-awaited changes to premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act stand to significantly increase the time and cost involved in preparing an initial HSR notification, and will require more proactive attention to data issues, says Andrew Szwez at FTI Technology.

  • Deadline Extension Highlights PFAS Reporting Complexities

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent extension of reporting and recordkeeping timelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act offers relief to the regulated community, but the unprecedented volume of data required means that businesses must remain diligent in their data collection efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 6th Circ. Preemption Ruling Adds Uncertainty For Car Cos.

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    Automakers and their suppliers need uniformity under the law to create sufficient scale and viable markets — but the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Fenner v. General Motors creates more uncertainty around the question of when state law consumer claims related to violations of federal vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards are preempted, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • How Biden Admin Has Used Antitrust Tools, And What's Next

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    The last four years have been marked by an aggressive whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement using a broad range of tools, and may result in lasting change regardless of the upcoming presidential election result, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure

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    Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races

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    This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Challenge To Ill. Card Fee Law Explores Compliance Hurdles

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    A recent federal lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that will soon forbid electronic payment networks from charging fees for processing the tax and tip portions of card transactions, fleshes out the glaring compliance challenges and exposure risks financial institutions must be ready to face next summer, says Martin Kiernan at Amundsen Davis.

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