Newsletters

10.20.22

Bots Beware: Website Chat Bots Become Latest Target for California Class Actions

California class action lawyers have turned their sights on a new target: websites that employ “chat bots,” digital assistants that allow companies to communicate with customers without employing live website customer service representatives.


03.10.20

New York Court Halts Dog Food False Ad Suit

A New York federal court threw out a false advertising class action asserting that Rachael Ray duped consumers by calling her line of dog food “natural,” ruling that the use of the word was not materially misleading to a reasonable consumer.


02.05.20

Arbitration: Will U.S. Supreme Court Step In to Solve California’s McGill Problem?

It now looks as though the Supreme Court is ready to receive, and we think grant, a petition for writ of certiorari in Blair v. Rent-A-Center (and related cases) that could spell doom for California’s McGill rule under which arbitration agreements are enforceable only if they exclude court ...


01.16.20

Ninth Circuit Sides With Debt Collector in FDCPA Case

Affirming a California district court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a debt collector is entitled to collect a lawful, outstanding debt even if the statute of limitations has run, so long as the debt collector does not use means that are deceptive or misleading and ...


11.20.19

Ninth Circuit Eases Path for FCRA Plaintiffs

Addressing two issues of first impression in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, a panel ruled that a consumer suffers a concrete, Article III injury-in-fact when a third party obtains her credit report for a purpose not authorized by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  


10.16.19

Bank (Finally) Gets Plaintiffs’ Claims Sent to Individual Arbitration

A major national bank won a motion to dismiss in a multidistrict litigation challenging its overdraft fee practices, sending the individual plaintiffs’ disputes to arbitration pursuant to customer account or deposit agreements.


10.11.19

Retail and Consumer Products Law Roundup October 2019

In a closely watched case that many hoped would bring some clarity—and sanity—to the subject of website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Supreme Court has instead chosen to punt.


09.25.19

Class Actions: Ninth Circuit Panel Allows Judge to Prohibit Precertification Settlement Negotiations

Taking the cautious view of a district court’s judicial discretion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to grant a writ of mandamus seeking to overturn a case management order that prohibited precertification class settlement discussions.


08.28.19

Could California’s McGill Problem Be Solved on Appeal?

The battle over arbitration in California continues, with two defendants in a recent U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit decision appealing the court’s reaffirmation of McGill v. Citibank.


05.22.19

New DFS Office To Tackle Consumer Protection

There’s yet another state CFPB, and this one could be significant. Joining Pennsylvania’s earlier effort, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has just created a new office, the Consumer Protection and Financial Enforcement Division.