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Consumer Protection

  • 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.

  • June 04, 2025

    FTC Fights Attys Who Want State Bar Input On Ethics Worries

    The Federal Trade Commission doesn't want staff attorneys to be able to seek state bar association guidance if they dispute the legality of an instruction, arguing in a fight with the FTC's union that seeking such guidance would gum up the gears of commission work.

  • June 04, 2025

    FCC Says C-Band Payment Clearinghouse Can Wind Down

    The C-Band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse has received the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission to wind down its operations by the end of the month, after the agency agreed it had done what it was intended to do.

  • June 04, 2025

    Trump Ordered To Explain Why Layoffs Don't Flout Injunction

    A California federal judge ordered the Trump administration Wednesday to explain why preparations for layoffs at the State Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development do not violate an injunction she issued last month, saying she needed more details about the agencies' plans to evaluate their compliance.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    DOJ's Visa Suit Shows Pitfalls Of Regulating Innovative Tech

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    A policy of allowing free-market mechanisms to operate without undue interference remains the most effective way to foster innovation, and the U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 case against Visa illustrates the drawbacks of regulating innovative technology, says attorney Thomas Willcox.

  • How Ill. Ruling Could Influence Future Data Breach Cases

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    The Illinois Supreme Court's recent decision in Petta v. Christie Business Holding, which was based solely on standing, establishes an important benchmark for the viability of Illinois-based lawsuits arising out of data security incidents that defendants can cite in future cases, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Small Biz Study Brings Fair Lending Considerations

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report highlighting potential racial discrimination in small business lending may not result in more aggressive enforcement under the Trump administration — but lenders can expect state regulators, private plaintiffs and advocacy groups to step up their own efforts, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Expect To Feel Aftershocks Of Chopra's ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ Shake-Up

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    Publications released by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau personnel in the last days of the Biden administration outline former Director Rohit Chopra's long-term vision for aggressive state-level enforcement of federal consumer financial laws, opening the doors for states to launch investigations and pursue actions, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

  • Corp. Transparency Act's Future Under Treasury's Bessent

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    The Corporate Transparency Act’s ultimate fate faced uncertain terms at the end of 2024, but new U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statements and actions so far demonstrate that he does not intend to ignore the law, though he may attempt to make modifications, say attorneys at Taylor English.

  • A Look At A Possible Corporate Transparency Act Exemption

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    Attorneys at Kirkland offer a deep dive into the application of the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements specifically to U.S.-domiciled co-issuers in typical collateralized loan obligation transactions, and consider whether such issuers may be able to assert an exemption from the CTA's reporting requirements.

  • Opinion

    Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice

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    A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.

  • What Financial Intermediaries Can Expect From New Admin

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    Understanding the current regulatory landscape of consumer financial services — and anticipating how it might evolve under Trump 2.0 — is essential for brokers, lead generators and digital platforms, and they should consider strategies for managing regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Virginia AI Bills Could Serve As Nationwide Model

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    If signed into law, two Virginia bills focused on regulating the use of high-risk AI systems in the private and public sectors have the potential to influence similar legislation in other states, as well as the compliance strategies of companies operating in the commonwealth and across the U.S., say attorneys at Woods Rogers.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • What Banks Need To Know About Trump's Executive Orders

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    While the numerous executive orders and memos from the last few weeks don't touch on many of the issues the banking industry expected the Trump administration to address, banks still need to pay attention to the flurry of orders from strategic, compliance and operational perspectives, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • 6 Tips For Cos. To Comply With Influencer Gifting Rules

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    A January decision in a National Advertising Division case concerning Revolve Group provides new insights on how the NAD expects companies to manage certain influencer campaigns, including preapproving posts before they go live and considering how they present the disclosure instructions to influencers, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • 4 Potential Effects Of 3rd Circ.'s Coinbase Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent landmark decision in Coinbase v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the SEC's refusal to engage in rulemaking to clarify its stance on crypto enforcement was "insufficiently reasoned" could have wide-ranging impacts, including on other cases, legislation and even the SEC's reputation itself, says Daniel Payne at Cole-Frieman.

  • Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses

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    In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ's Message To States Takes On New Weight Under Trump

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's January guidance to state enforcers has fresh significance as the Trump administration moves to freeze the bureau's work, and industry should expect states to use this series of recommendations as an enforcement road map, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

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