Author Archives: Adam Pulver

Fourth Circuit Allows Long-Running PDR TCPA Case About “Free” Book to Continue

Some cases are destined to continue forever, and the case of Carlton & Harris Chiropractic v. PDR Network may be one of them, given the Fourth Circuit’s decision yesterday- its third encounter with the case since it was filed back in 2015. As Judge Harris explains, the basic facts are that the plaintiff, “a chiropractic […]

Loan Shark Granted Clemency by Trump Enjoined from Lending Activity

According to the New York Attorney General, before reporting to prison in 2020, Jonathan Braun was a prolific predatory lender, notorious for charging borrowers extreme interest rates and threatening those who fell behind–collecting $77 million in payments from small-business owners via merchant cash advances. In 2019, Braun was sentenced to 10 years in prison in […]

Supreme Court AMG Decision Has No Impact on Contempt Awards, Eleventh Circuit Holds

In 2008, a federal district court, in an action brought under section 13(b) of the FTC Act, issued a permanent injunction against three dietary supplement companies and affiliates, finding that they had engaged in misleading and materially false marketing with respect to certain weight loss supplements. In 2017, the district court granted the FTC’s motion […]

Massachusetts High Court Upholds State Fiduciary Rule

In 2018, the Fifth Circuit vacated the Department of Labor’s 2016 Fiduciary Rule, which required certain broker-dealers and investment advisers providing investment advice subject to ERISA to act in consumers’ best interests, as opposed to their own.  DOL has indicated it will be proposing a new rule. But in the meantime, states have adopted and […]

Fourth Circuit Holds Validity of Class Waivers Must Be Assessed Pre-Certification

Last week, the Fourth Circuit decided In re Marriott International, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, in which it vacated a district court’s class certification order. The district court had granted certification before addressing the merits of Marriott’s argument that the plaintiffs were barred from proceeding as a class under a waiver. While acknowledging “it […]

Second Circuit Addresses Impact of Transunion on Risk-Based Standing Precedent

In Bohnak v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, the Second Circuit considered how the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in TransUnion, LLC v. Ramirez impacted earlier Second Circuit precedent as to how to establish Article III standing in data breach cases. In short, the court held that TransUnion altered its precedent as to whether an injury arising […]

Second Circuit Throws Out NYT Automatic Renewal Class Action Settlement

Last Thursday, the Second Circuit agreed with an objector, and vacated a district court’s approval of a class action settlement of claims relating to automatic renewals of New York Times subscriptions, in a thorough decision that clarifies the circuit standard as to several Rule 23(e) issues. The court held that the 2018 Amendments to Rule […]

Ninth Circuit keeps TCPA coverage for unsolicited text messages narrow

This week, inTrim v. Reward Zone USA LLC, the Ninth Circuit issued two separate opinions collectively affirming the dismissal of a claim brought under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A), based on the plaintiff’s receipt of unsolicited text messages. That statutory provision only applies to calls made using an “automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or […]

Rule 23(f) and Amended Class Certification Orders

Rule 23(f) authorizes interlocutory review of orders granting or denying class-action certification, so long as a petition is filed within 14 days of such an order. But what if, instead of filing a 23(f) petition, a party files a motion for reconsideration, and the court modifies its certification order? Does the 14-day clock start anew? […]

Updated Mandatory Arbitration Agreements: Coincidence or More

This week, I received three different emails informing me that companies I interact with had updated their terms and conditions. The ordinary consumer likely deleted these emails, or read them without understanding what they were talking about, but I knew right away that the biggest change was likely about arbitration. And I was right. All […]