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Consumer Protection

  • June 05, 2025

    DOJ Says Cross-Border Monopoly Member Deserves 11 Years

    The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking 11 years in prison and a $2 million fine for a man who pled guilty to charges tied to the running of a cross-border used-car transport business, which prosecutors say used violence to keep competition at bay.

  • June 05, 2025

    Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates more than 100 times in May on issues such as making room for 5G's use of the airwaves, licensing tribal spectrum, broadband mapping, the 12.7 gigahertz band, FCC satellite rules and more.

  • June 05, 2025

    Juul Beats Distributor's E-Cig Price Discrimination Suit

    An Illinois federal judge Wednesday permanently dismissed a price discrimination suit against Juul Labs, finding that a gas station distributor alleging it was given worse terms than a rival on e-cigarette products torpedoed its own case when it removed details of the alleged market from its latest complaint.

  • June 05, 2025

    Orgs. Clash At DC Circ. Over FCC's Spectrum Revamp

    Public safety groups are clashing at the D.C. Circuit over whether the Federal Communications Commission overstepped its authority when it expanded spectrum rights in the 4.9 gigahertz band, a segment of airwaves long relied on by emergency responders.

  • June 05, 2025

    Spice Co. Hid Lead Levels In Products, Suit Claims

    Florida-based Badia Spices sold ground ginger and cinnamon with elevated levels of lead, according to a New York federal lawsuit that leans on laboratory testing conducted by state food safety regulators.

  • June 05, 2025

    NC Pathology Practice Faces Class Claims Over Data Breach

    A North Carolina pathology practice got hit with a proposed class action over a January data breach that allegedly exposed the personal information of 235,000 people to the cybercriminals who exploited what the complaint said were the practice's lacking security measures.

  • June 05, 2025

    DOJ Wants Fix-It-1st Mergers, Not 'Fix-It-2nd'

    The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's top merger official walked a fine line Wednesday between avoiding "a lingering regulatory review tax" on benign transactions and over-confident prognostications that markets will "self-correct" without intervention, and between encouraging companies to address concerns upfront and "shadow" settlements with the government.

  • June 05, 2025

    Former NFL Great Says Travelers Won't Cover Water Claim

    Former New England Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett and his wife are suing a Travelers subsidiary over its denial of coverage for nearly $400,000 worth of water damage to their Massachusetts home, according to a complaint filed on Thursday in state court.

  • June 05, 2025

    DOJ Says NCAA Eligibility Rule May Benefit Student-Athletes

    The U.S. Department of Justice is weighing in on the NCAA's eligibility rule, saying it is not asserting a position but asking the court to take a measured approach when considering the preliminary injunction request of a University of Tennessee basketball player.

  • June 05, 2025

    How Trump's Pardons Could Sway Prosecutorial Discretion

    As President Donald Trump dismantles a growing list of white collar criminal cases with a flurry of clemency grants early in his second term, erasing years of investigative and prosecutorial work with a stroke of his black Sharpie, experts worry his actions will have a chilling effect on prosecutorial decision-making.

  • June 05, 2025

    Connecticut Lawmakers OK Bill Targeting Illicit THC

    Legislators in Connecticut have approved a bill cracking down on illicit marijuana and hemp product sales outside the state's regulated marketplace.

  • June 05, 2025

    High Court Drops Class Cert. Clarification Bid

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Thursday to weigh in on whether federal courts can certify classes that include uninjured members, holding it improperly agreed to hear a disability discrimination case against diagnostics company Labcorp that raised the important question.

  • June 05, 2025

    Justices Nix Mexico's Cartel Violence Suit In Win For Gun Cos.

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a suit by the government of Mexico against Smith & Wesson and other major gun companies, finding in a unanimous opinion that the alleged ties between the firearms makers and cartel violence south of the border are too speculative to stand up in court.

  • June 04, 2025

    Apple Loses Bid To Pause App Store Order Amid Appeal

    A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday refused to lift a lower court's injunction mandating certain App Store policy changes while Apple appeals it, saying that it wasn't "persuaded that a stay is appropriate" in the high-profile litigation brought by Epic Games.

  • June 04, 2025

    23andMe, Bidders Agree To Post-Ch. 11 Auction Offer Process

    The winner of 23andMe's Chapter 11 auction and a nonprofit started by its co-founder can improve their offers to acquire the DNA testing company under procedures agreed to Wednesday in Missouri bankruptcy court, despite disruptions from a tornado warning and an attorney letting slip nonpublic details of an offer.

  • June 04, 2025

    Del. Justices Probe Bid For Biden Laptop Suit Revival

    A Delaware Supreme Court justice asked a computer repair shop owner's attorney Wednesday if his client had a right to claim anonymity after informing Congress he had a left-behind copy of Hunter Biden's laptop hard drive, in a politically controversial case that originated during President Donald Trump's first term

  • June 04, 2025

    Dems Say Robocalls Can't Be Stopped With Less Money, Staff

    Combating the scourge of robocalls is normally a more bipartisan issue, but at a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Democrats used the opportunity to take aim at the Trump administration for cutting funding and jobs from agencies tasked with fixing the problem.

  • June 04, 2025

    Ex-CFTC Chair Warns Crypto Bill's Loopholes Still Too Wide

    Former leaders of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Wednesday told U.S. House lawmakers mulling a bill to regulate cryptocurrency markets that the legislation needs to close potential regulatory loopholes and that Congress must expand the agency's resources if they expect it to police the bulk of the digital asset space.

  • June 04, 2025

    Porn Site Kink Shared Viewing Habits With Google, Suit Says

    Porn site Kink.com used Google tracking tools as part of a "devil's bargain" with the tech giant and failed to inform site visitors it was sharing their sensitive information, including the specific videos they watched, a proposed class action filed Tuesday in California federal court alleged.

  • June 04, 2025

    Wells Fargo And Others Get Final OK For $19.5M Privacy Deal

    A class of California small businesses have gotten final approval for their $19.5 million deal settling claims Wells Fargo Bank NA and two other companies improperly recorded them on telemarketing cold calls in violation of the Golden State's Invasion of Privacy Act.

  • June 04, 2025

    Android User Says Meta Secretly Links Browsing To Profiles

    Meta Platforms Inc. secretly exploits an Android communication channel to tie users' browsing information to their Facebook and Instagram profiles, rendering that information completely identifiable and making it easier to target users with advertisements, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in California federal court.

  • June 04, 2025

    USPTO Says Study Disproves Pharma Patent Thicket Claims

    A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unit has found that pharmaceutical patent thickets are rare after investigating arguments about their effect on drug pricing, the division's leader said Wednesday as part of a discussion on large patent families.

  • June 04, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: TikTok Tussle And Merger Melee

    Spring has sprung momentous decisions and quiet resolutions in some of the North Carolina Business Court's top cases, from clearing for trial the attorney general's suit over a hospital's post-merger standard of care to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP dropping its coverage dispute over a 2022 data breach.

  • June 04, 2025

    SEC Gets $1.1M Win Against Alleged Ga. Crypto Scammer

    A Georgia man is on the hook for over $1.1 million in penalties after failing to defend himself from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations he ran an $800,000 affinity fraud scheme involving a purported cryptocurrency he said was backed by gold and stem cell technology. 

  • June 04, 2025

    Heart Device Maker iRhythm Gets Investor Claims Trimmed

    A California federal judge has trimmed a class action accusing digital healthcare company iRhythm Technologies of making false and misleading statements about its heart-event monitoring device, finding that the suit does not plausibly plead knowledge of wrongdoing for most individual defendants, among other things.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

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    Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • 3 Change Management Tools To Boost Compliance Efforts

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    As companies grapple with rapidly changing regulations and expectations, leaders charged with implementing their organizations’ compliance programs should look to change management principles to make the process less costly and more effective, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • FDIC Rules Rollback Foretells More Pro-Industry Changes

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s March withdrawal of Biden-era proposals to tighten brokered deposit rules and impose new corporate governance standards shows that acting chair Travis Hill’s commitment to reviewing regulations that may restrict growth and innovation for financial institution and fintech companies is unlikely to flag soon, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Understanding How Jurors Arrive At Punitive Damage Awards

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    Much of the rising trend of so-called thermonuclear verdicts can be tied to punitive damages amounts that astonish the imagination, so attorneys must understand the psychological underpinnings that drive jurors’ decision-making calculus on damages, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation.

  • Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals

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    If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.

  • Avoiding Compliance Risks Under Calif. Recycling Label Law

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    CalRecycle's recently published final findings on California's S.B. 343 — determining which products and packaging materials are eligible to use the "chasing arrows" recyclability symbol — offer key guidance that businesses operating in the state must heed to avert the risk of penalties or litigation, says Christopher Smith at Greenspoon Marder.

  • FDIC Unlocks A Door To Banks' Potential Crypto Future

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent crypto guidance broadens the scope of permissible activities for banks to an unprecedented level, although most institutions are unlikely to initiate or expand such practices in the immediate future, says Amanda Kowalski at Barley Snyder.

  • Series

    Playing Football Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    While my football career ended over 15 years ago, the lessons the sport taught me about grit, accountability and resilience have stayed with me and will continue to help me succeed as an attorney, says Bert McBride at Trenam.

  • Tracking FTC Labor Task Force's Focus On Worker Protection

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently directed its bureaus to form a joint labor task force, shifting the agency's focus toward protecting consumers in their role as workers, but case selection and resource allocation will ultimately reveal how significant labor markets will be in the FTC's agenda, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Reform Mass Arbitration

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    A number of recent lawsuits demonstrate how problematic practices in mass arbitration can undermine its ability to function as a tool for fair and efficient dispute resolution — so reforms including early case filtering, stronger verification requirements and new fee structures are needed to restore the arbitration system's integrity, says Kennen Hagen at FedArb.

  • 10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks

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    The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • Aviation Watch: New FAA Chief Will Face Strong Headwinds

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    Once confirmed, Bryan Bedford, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration, will face steep challenges — including a shortage of air traffic controllers, a recent spate of high-profile crashes, and the difficulty of working within an administration intent on cutting staffing and funding, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • The SEC's Administrative Law Courts Are At A Crossroads

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent departure from its prior defense of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's administrative law judges' legitimacy moves the forum deeper into a constitutional limbo that likely requires congressional action, says Dean Conway at Carlton Fields.

  • SEC's Noteworthy Stablecoin Guidance Comes With Caveats

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued a statement concluding that a narrow class of stablecoins doesn't involve the offer or sale of securities — a significant step forward in recognizing that not all crypto-assets are created equal, though there remains a pressing need for broader regulatory clarity, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

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