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Part one: Privacy matters

In this three-part series, Jay speaks with attorneys across Porter Wright’s departments and practices about privacy and data security. Today’s podcast begins with Christina Hultsch who talks about the options available for European Union companies to transfer data.… Continue Reading

You win some, you lose some – the story of the FTC’s week

Last week was an exciting week in the world of merger challenges. Decisions were issued by federal courts regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to preliminarily block two different mergers – one involving office supply retailers, the other, hospitals. The FTC was able to convince one judge that its case had merit, but not … Continue Reading

ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting 2016: Clarifying liability in hub-and-spoke conspiracies

Last in our series on the ABA Antitrust Section’s 2016 Spring Meeting, but certainly not least, we bring you Jetta’s summary of the panel discussion on hub-and-spoke conspiracies. These conspiracies seem to be in vogue now, with the Apple (e-book) case prominent among them. Not surprisingly, the government and the defense bar sees these cases very differently. … Continue Reading

ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting 2016: The FTC and the new frontier of privacy

Continuing our series on the 2016 Spring Meeting, Ryan Graham, an associate in the Antitrust Group and former analyst with the FBI’s Cyber Division, summarizes the panelists’ thoughts on the FTC’s future focus as it relates to privacy and data security. Privacy and data security lawyers would love to know what initiatives the Federal Trade … Continue Reading

ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting 2016: The most important case of 2015 (that no one has ever heard of)

Continuing our series on the 2016 Spring Meeting, Brodie Butland summarizes the contentious panel discussion at the 2016 ABA Antitrust Conference, titled “Telemedicine: Are Old Definitions Restricting Competition?” The Supreme Court’s 2014-15 term was nearly unprecedented. Same-sex marriage is now legal across all 50 states. The Affordable Care Act survived yet another challenge. Lethal injection … Continue Reading

Supreme Court refuses to deny use of “representative evidence” to certify a class

Faced with what defense lawyers hoped would be another arrow in their quiver to fight class certification, the Supreme Court refused to slam the door on the use of “representative evidence” in proving predominance under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3). Instead it held that, in certain cases, “representative evidence” – evidence representative of a … Continue Reading

Avoiding data disclosures mid-litigation: a lesson from the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team

Have you ever wanted to email Abby Wambach or Alex Morgan on their personal email accounts? If so, then last week may have been your lucky week. According to a recent report by the New York Times, the United States Soccer Federation (US Soccer) filed an unredacted complaint in its labor litigation against the US Women’s … Continue Reading

“Made in USA” class actions target condiments and energy drinks

The Times Square ball was not the only thing that dropped on New Year’s Eve for condiment maker H.J. Heinz and energy-drink maker Rockstar Inc. Both were hit with consumer class actions last Thursday in California Federal Court, alleging that their products are falsely labeled “Made in the USA” in violation of California’s ultra-strict “Made … Continue Reading

Nordstrom and jeans designer settle “Made in USA” class action lawsuit

As we reported in December 2014, a wave of class action lawsuits has been pounding some of the nation’s largest retailers thanks to an until-recently obscure California statute that declares it a deceptive practice for a product to be labeled “Made in USA” if even the smallest component of the product is manufactured abroad. One … Continue Reading

Health care data breaches – inevitable, but you can minimize the damage

Data breaches in health care can be the most devastating, both to the consumers whose personally identifiable information was exposed, but also to the institutions that possessed this sensitive data. In this podcast Jay and Christina Hultsch review the various issues surrounding such data breaches, including when to review data security policies, how to prepare … Continue Reading

FTC chief administrative law judge: No harm, no foul

In a long awaited decision, the FTC’s chief administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled against FTC staff and held that LabMD did not violate Section 5 of the FTC Act by not reasonably securing customer data. The basis for the decision was that staff could not prove that customers would suffer “substantial injury” from LabMD’s data … Continue Reading

Is the use of statistical averages appropriate when certifying a Rule 23(b)(3) damages class?

Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo is the latest in a series of cases to go before the Supreme Court on issues pertaining to the proper adjudication of class actions. Oral argument was heard on Nov. 10 and Jay and Porter Wright colleague Jetta Sandin attended. In this podcast, they share their impressions of how the … Continue Reading

Third Circuit’s Wyndham decision – Part one

In part one of this two part series, Jay is joined by Ryan Graham, a colleague at Porter Wright and former FBI analyst, to discuss the Third Circuit’s decision in FTC vs. Wyndham. Ryan and Jay discuss generally the various agencies who have authority over data security and the challenges facing companies who have experienced … Continue Reading

Third Circuit affirms FTC authority to sanction companies’ insufficient cyber security postures

The Third Circuit’s recent ruling in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., No. 14-3514 (3rd Cir. Aug. 24, 2015) marks a watershed moment in the ongoing saga of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation’s (Wyndham) data breach litigation. Prior to this decision, federal cyber security regulation has existed in the legal badlands, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the … Continue Reading

Violate the Rules Once, Shame on You, Violate the Rules Twice…Go Get Your Checkbook

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have a slightly different take on the old saying of “fool me once” when it comes to violating the premerger notification requirements as two investors recently found out. As we have reported before, under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, 15 U.S.C. § … Continue Reading

Government licensure for the personal training industry – unnecessary, unworkable and unintelligible

A campaign to require licensure in the personal training industry by the U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals has left some scratching their heads. Six states have considered licensure laws that, through criminal liability, would forbid providing personal training services without a license. In 2013, Washington, D.C. passed legislation authorizing the D.C. Board of Physical Therapy … Continue Reading

LegalZoom Kicks Off Antitrust Battle Against State Bar Associations

State bar associations and other licensing boards were left like bleeding seals in shark-infested waters following the United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision this February in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, 135 S. Ct. 1101.  The decision held that a state agency controlled by active participants in the market … Continue Reading

Antitrust Probe of Movie Theater Chains Enters Next Act

The U.S. Department of Justice has turned its spotlight on AMC Entertainment, Inc. in the government’s antitrust probe of the nation’s movie theater industry.  In an 8-K filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AMC announced that it has received a civil subpoena from the DOJ seeking information and documents relating to AMC’s involvement … Continue Reading

Ascertainability is different from other class action elements …seriously, we aren’t joking

A little over a year ago we wrote to discuss the FTC’s Order against Aaron’s, one of the country’s largest rent-to-own (“RTO”) stores, charging that its franchisees were spying on its customers.  Well, the inevitable follow-on class actions were filed and recently, in Byrd v. Aaron’s Inc., — F.3d –, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6190 … Continue Reading
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