In 2024, the Department of Transportation issued a rule requiring airlines to disclose certain ancillary fees upfront when potential customers search for itineraries. Afraid that such transparency might cut into profits, the airline industry petitioned for review in the Fifth Circuit, which granted a stay pending appeal. In January 2025, a panel of the Fifth Circuit […]
Author Archives: Adam Pulver
Dreamland Baby, a manufacturer and seller of weighted sleep blankets and swaddles, sued the Consumer Product Safety Commission, former CPSC Commissioner Trumka, HHS, and two HHS subagencies based on (1) the CPSC’s “Safe Sleep” guidance, advising against the use of such blankets and swaddles for infants; and (2) statements by HHS and Commissioner Trumka about […]
Last week, I posted about a Western District of Washington decision granting partial summary judgment to the FTC on claims against Amazon relating to the enrollment flow for Amazon Prime subscriptions. A trial began earlier this week on the remaining claims, but, today, the FTC announced a $2.5 billion settlement, including $1.5 billion to be […]
Several consumers filed California state law class actions against Kimberly-Clark in federal district court, alleging that they were misled into believing that Kleenex Germ Removal wet wipes contained germicides, not just soaps. The district court dismissed the non-California plaintiffs’ claims for lack of personal jurisdiction, and dismissed the remaining claims with prejudice on the grounds that […]
From the Third Circuit’s opinion today: J.P. Ward & Associates is a debt-defense law firm that handles many [FDCPA] §1692e(8) claims. To “scal[e]” up its practice and get more fees, named partner Joshua Ward and lawyer Travis Gordon hatched a scheme. If a client approached the firm to dispute a debt, the firm would get […]
The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, or ROSCA, restricts the use of “negative option features”–defined as “an offer or agreement to sell or provide any goods or services, a provision under which the customer’s silence or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by […]
Yesterday, the Second Circuit decided Upsolve v. James, an appeal that had different advocates for low-income consumers taking opposing positions. The case was brought by Upsolve, a nonprofit that seeks to provide free legal advice to New Yorkers facing debt-collection actions in state court via a cadre of specially trained, non-lawyer “Justice Advocates.” The problem is […]
Last week, the Trump Administration finally got around to posting its Spring 2025 semiregulatory agenda. Among the notable consumer-related items, the Department of Transportation intends to withdraw an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the last administration that was considering regulations relating to compensation, rebooking, and accommodations for delays and cancellations that were within […]
Many commercial websites have adopted the use of “session-replay” technology, by which embedded code on a website records the visitor’s communications within that website, including their mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and pages visited. Businesses can then use this information in deciding how and whether to tweak their websites, and gain other consumer data. In Popa v. […]
In 2024, various telecom industry associations sued the FCC in the Sixth Circuit, challenging an order that imposed reporting requirements in the event of data breaches involving consumers’ personally identifiable information. Last week, the Sixth Circuit rejected those challenges. First, it held that the order was within the scope of the FCC’s authority under the […]