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Consumer Protection
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June 27, 2025
Hershey Says Wrapper PFAS Suit 'Built On A House Of Cards'
The Hershey Co. on Friday urged a Pennsylvania federal court to dismiss a putative class action that alleges its packaging for its chocolate bars and candies contains dangerous levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, saying consumers' testing allegations failed to back a viable claim that its products contain the forever chemicals known as PFAS.
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June 27, 2025
Senate Republican Plan Would Cut ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Funds, Keep PCAOB
U.S. Senate Banking Committee Republicans' latest budget bill plans have dropped a push to dismantle the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and pivoted to a lesser — but still severe — cut to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding.Â
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June 27, 2025
Fla. Judge Walks Back Class Cert. In Chili's Data Breach Row
A Florida federal judge who previously certified a class of Chili's customers suing over a 2018 data breach declined to keep that mechanism in place Friday, finding that the revised class definition that was established after the Eleventh Circuit ordered the topic to be reexamined no longer met class certification standards.Â
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June 27, 2025
Tribes Say Kalshi's Sports Contracts Undermine Sovereignty
A group of state and tribal gaming associations plus 27 federally recognized tribes have weighed in on a dispute between trading platform KalshiEx LLC and Maryland regulators, arguing that Kalshi's entrance into the gaming market has adversely impacted tribal gaming revenue and impeded tribes' inherent sovereign right to regulate gaming activity on tribal lands.
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June 27, 2025
Fla. Teen Files $10M Suit Alleging DMV Appointment Scalping
A Florida teenager has filed a proposed $10 million state court class action lawsuit against highway safety officials, alleging they were negligent for allowing her to camp outside a driver's license office just to secure an appointment because reservations were scalped by internet bots and sold for profit.
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June 27, 2025
Wells Fargo Beats Some Claims In Cash Sweep Litigation
A federal judge on Friday nixed some claims in a proposed class action accusing Wells Fargo of harming customers through its cash sweep deposit program by giving them only minimal interest on their holdings, including a claim that the bank breached its fiduciary duties to its indirect clients.
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June 27, 2025
6th Circ. Vacates Class Cert. In GM Transmission Defect Suit
The full Sixth Circuit on Friday unraveled class certification for drivers claiming General Motors LLC sold vehicles with defective transmissions that caused the cars to shudder and shake on the road.
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June 27, 2025
Judge Waits On Fortune's Bid To Join Assa Abloy Fight
A D.C. federal judge left open the question of whether Fortune Brands Home & Security can intervene to enforce Assa Abloy's 2023 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday, as the DOJ seeks to keep a supply agreement between the two companies in place.
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June 27, 2025
Tesla To Face Punitive Damages Claim At Trial Over Fla. Crash
Tesla will face a punitive damages claim at trial next month in a wrongful death suit over a deadly collision in 2019, with a Florida federal judge saying there is enough evidence the carmaker knew about dangers associated with its autopilot system to send the claim to a jury.
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June 27, 2025
Loyola Says It Had No Role In Student-Athlete Data Breach
Loyola University Chicago moved Thursday to be dismissed from an Illinois federal lawsuit claiming it failed to protect the private data of its student-athletes, saying it can't be held liable for the unlawful access of an ex-University of Michigan football coach who has no affiliation or connection to the university. Â
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June 27, 2025
Greystar, Landlords Push To Toss DOJ's RealPage Suit
Greystar Management Services LLC and several other landlords urged a North Carolina federal court to toss a rent price-fixing suit lodged by the federal government and multiple states, arguing in part that they have failed to provide specifics for their antitrust claims.
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June 27, 2025
UK Tribunal Says Visa, Mastercard Fees Infringe Antitrust Law
A U.K. tribunal issued a judgment Friday siding with merchants seeking damages from Visa and Mastercard for claims they were charged excessively high transaction fees, finding the interchange fees merchants pay to banks violate competition law.
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June 27, 2025
Sunbeam Says 'Reptile Theory' Tactics Doom $8.8M Verdict
Sunbeam Products Inc. and parent company Newell Brands Inc. want a new trial in a case where a woman won an $8.8 million verdict on claims that a slow cooker made by the companies left her with burns, asserting that her attorneys committed misconduct aimed at using "Reptile Theory" to inflame the jury.
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June 27, 2025
Financial Regulators Say Banks Can Use Third-Party TIN Info
Financial regulators on Friday said banks can collect tax identification number information from third parties, rather than just from their customers, pointing to changes in banking since the requirement was enacted under the USA PATRIOT Act.
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June 27, 2025
Compass Wants 'Zillow Ban' Halted For Antitrust Case
Compass asked a New York federal court Friday to stop Zillow from enforcing a new policy the real estate brokerage claims is designed to block competition, saying the threat of Zillow's rules is already causing harm and confusion.
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June 27, 2025
Wireless Co. Says Feds Breached 'Rip And Replace' Promise
Illinois-based SI Wireless LLC told a Court of Federal Claims judge the U.S. government breached a promise to reimburse it for removing Chinese-made equipment deemed a national security risk from its telecommunications network and has failed to follow through with nearly $157 million in payments.
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June 27, 2025
Off The Bench: Tatis Says Loan 'Predatory,' Tennis Player Suit
In this week's Off The Bench, a Major League Baseball star wants out of a "predatory" loan from a future earnings investment company, a group of migrant workers keep alive their suit accusing companies that helped develop World Cup facilities in Qatar of exploitation and abuse, and the tennis Grand Slam tournaments may be in the crosshairs of players suing the sport's hierarchy.
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June 27, 2025
Mass. Cannabis Labs Call Rival's Suit 'Publicity Stunt'
Seven Massachusetts cannabis testing labs are asking a state court judge to toss out a lawsuit brought by a competitor accusing them of manipulating test results, with three of the defendants calling the complaint a "publicity stunt" driven by the plaintiff's declining market share.
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June 27, 2025
Justices Uphold Texas Law Requiring Porn Site Age Checks
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said a Texas law requiring pornographic websites to verify visitors' ages could take effect, agreeing with a divided Fifth Circuit's decision to vacate an injunction while using a different standard of judicial review to evaluate the statute.
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June 27, 2025
Justices Salvage FCC Subsidy Fees, Reversing 5th Circ.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld the funding mechanism for the Federal Communications Commission's $9 billion Universal Service Fund used to subsidize low-income phone service, rural broadband, and school, library and healthcare telecommunications connectivity.
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June 26, 2025
Trump DOJ Eyes Algorithmic Collusion, Welcomes 'Little Tech'
Tackling algorithmic pricing collusion in the healthcare and housing markets and welcoming pro-competitive mergers of "Little Tech" are among the U.S. Department of Justice's plans for protecting consumers in today's digital markets, the top deputy for the DOJ's antitrust division told privacy professionals on Thursday.
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June 26, 2025
Student Loan Servicer Must Face Class Action Fraud Claims
A Chicago federal judge has kept alive a proposed class action accusing student loan giant Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc. of misleading borrowers about how it would automatically apply payments above their monthly minimums owed, though he trimmed an unjust enrichment claim from the suit.
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June 26, 2025
Teladoc Can't Shake Most Of Suit Over Meta Pixel Data Sharing
A New York federal judge refused to toss a proposed class action accusing Teladoc of unlawfully disclosing website visitors' personal health information to Meta, preserving eight wiretapping and consumer protecting claims under federal and several state laws while giving the plaintiffs a chance to amend negligence and three other allegations.
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June 26, 2025
FTC OKs $1.6B Gas Station Deal, With Divestiture Of 35 Stores
The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday an agreement resolving antitrust concerns regarding Alimentation Couche-Tard's proposed $1.57 billion acquisition of 270 fuel stations from grocery chain Giant Eagle, requiring the Canadian convenience store company to divest 35 gas stations.
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June 26, 2025
Phillip Morris Moves To Arbitrate Rivals' Tobacco Deal Suit
Philip Morris USA is urging a Washington state judge to force arbitration in a dispute with R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies over deals delineating billions of dollars in annual payments owed to states under Big Tobacco's 1998 master settlement agreement.
Expert Analysis
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Breaking Down 4th Circ. 'Actual Knowledge' Ruling For Banks
A recent decision from the Fourth Circuit finding that banks must have "actual knowledge" to be found liable for losses arising from an automated clearinghouse transfer warns that the more financial institutions know about a name mismatch issue for any particular transaction, the more liability they may face, say attorneys at Katten.
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What New Study Means For Recycling Compliance In Calif.
Companies must review the California recycling agency's new study to understand its criteria for assessing claims of product and packaging recyclability under a law that takes effect next year, and then decide whether the risks of making such claims in the state outweigh the benefits, say attorneys at Keller & Heckman.
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The Future Of Privacy Enforcement Under Ferguson's FTC
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson's early actions indicate a marked shift toward a more traditional approach to privacy enforcement, so companies should expect the commission to maintain a strong focus on enforcing Section 5 of the FTC Act in the privacy area, says Kandi Parsons at ZwillGen.
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AT&T Decision May Establish Framework To Block FCC Fines
The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in AT&T v. FCC upends the commission's authority to impose certain civil penalties, reinforcing constitutional safeguards against administrative overreach, and opening avenues for telecommunications and technology providers to challenge forfeiture orders, say attorneys at HWG.
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Reassessing Corporate Separateness After Explosion Of LLCs
Following the dramatic increase of limited liability companies in the U.S., the Corporate Transparency Act's enactment and the Trump administration's subsequent narrowing of that law, it's worth revisiting the underlying legal principles that govern shell companies in order to remedy the problems that initially motivated the CTA, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.
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What Banks Should Note As Regulators Plan To Nix CRA Rule
While federal bank regulators’ recently announced intent to rescind a Biden-era Community Reinvestment Act final rule will loosen the framework for evaluating banks’ lending, service and investing activities, the decision means industry innovations and changes will remain unaddressed, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Series
Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.
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Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook
The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.
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High Court's Ruling May Not Stop Ghost Gun Makers
In Bondi v. VanDerStok, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Gun Control Act applies to untraceable "ghost gun" kits under certain circumstances — but companies that produce these kits may still be able to use creative regulatory workarounds to evade government oversight, says Samuel Bassett at Minton Bassett.
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Justices' Labcorp Questions Explore Class Cert. Tensions
At the recent oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, the justices' questioning highlighted a fundamental tension between constitutional standing requirements, the procedural framework of Rule 23, and the practical challenges of managing large, diverse classes in complex litigation, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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4 Ways To Leverage A Jury's Underdog Perceptions
Counsel should consider how common factors that speak to their client's size, power, past challenges and alignment with jurors can be presented to try and paint their client as a sympathetic underdog, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Vacatur Bid Sheds Light On Agency Decision-Making
While the ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ's joint motion to vacate the settlement it reached with Townstone Financial last year won't affect precedent on the Equal Credit Opportunity Act's scope, it serves as a road map to ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ decisional processes and provides insight into how other regulators make similar decisions, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.
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Why Hiring Former Jurors As Consultants Can Be Risky
The defense team's decision to hire former juror Victoria George in the high-profile retrial of Karen Read shines a spotlight on this controversial strategy, which raises important legal, ethical and tactical questions despite not being explicitly prohibited, says Nikoleta Despodova at ND Litigation.
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The Potential Efficiencies, Risks Of Folding PCAOB Into SEC
Integrating the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission offers the potential for regulatory efficiencies, as well as a more streamlined and consistent enforcement approach, but it also presents constitutional and operational uncertainties, say attorneys at Hilgers Graben.
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Tips For Companies Crafting Tariff Surcharge Disclosures
As the Trump administration imposes tariffs on imports, retail businesses considering itemizing tariff-related costs separately for consumers must ensure that any disclosures are both accurate and defensible to avoid regulatory enforcement or private suits, says Christopher Cole at Katten.