We received the following announcement:
ABA Section of Antitrust Law Consumer Protection Committee
Volunteer Opportunities for Law Students
The Consumer Protection Committee is the ABA’s premier group for developments in the law of privacy
and data security, false advertising, deceptive marketing, and unfair trade practices, providing timely
updates on law enforcement, rulemakings, and business guidance from the FTC, DOJ, CFPB, other federal
agencies, state attorneys general, divisions of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (NAD, ERSP and
CARU), and their international counterparts.
There are many ways for law students to get involved with the Consumer Protection Committee
including these great opportunities to write and speak on consumer protection issues.
• Consumer Protection Newsletter: We are seeking contributors for the next edition of the Consumer
Protection Committee newsletter, What’s in Store. If you would like to write a short article, please
contact Svetlana Gans at sgans@ftc.gov. Check out the Summer 2016 edition written entirely by
law students!
• Consumer Protection Case Updates: Contribute to bi-weekly consumer protection updates on the
latest consumer protection cases. If you or a colleague would be interested in joining the updates
team, contact Dan Blynn at DSBlynn@Venable.com. Here’s a short example of a case brief:
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois grants defendant Quaker Oats
Company’s request for entry of judgment in two separate lawsuits that had been filed
regarding claims against the labeling of its oatmeal products as “heart healthy” and
“natural.” Defendant based its motions on the fact that the court previously had granted a
motion to dismiss a consolidated action, Gibson v. Quaker Oats Company, which had
involved identical complaints and allegations as the current disputes. As discussed in the
Gibson dismissal opinion, the plaintiffs’ respective failure-to-warn claims were meritless due
to federal preemption and the plaintiffs failed to allege the omission of a material fact.
Further, in Gibson, the plaintiffs did not allege that a reasonable consumer would interpret
“natural” as eliminating all pesticides “down to the molecular level.” As such, the Court
determined that dismissing these analogues cases was appropriate. (Kinn v. Quaker Oats
Co., No. 16-cv-10833, 2017 WL 3922068 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 6, 2017); Panitch v. Quaker Oats
Co., No. 17-cv-03460, 2017 WL 3922149 (N.D. Ill Sept. 6, 2017)).
• Consumer Protection Legislation Monitoring Project: Beef up your knowledge of state consumer
protection laws by reviewing new state legislative proposals and writing a quick description for
dissemination. If interested in participating, please contact Anna Chehtova at
Anna.A.Chehtova@tsocorp.com.
• International Developments: There’s a whole wide world out there—help craft content about
international consumer protection law developments. Please contact Tony Di Domenico at
adidomenico@fasken.com for more information on how to get involved.
• Speaking Opportunities: The Consumer Protection Committee has opportunities to reach a wide
audience, speaking on panels and presenting updates on the latest consumer protection cases. Please
contact Ilunga Kalala at IKalala@KelleyDrye.com for more information on how to get involved.
