Morrison & Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog provides insights and reports on the latest news, developments, and trends that affect consumer-facing companies. Subscribe to receive the latest updates by attorneys from our nationally recognized Consumer Class Action and Product Liability practices.
With nearly half of the United States population being either urged or ordered to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel in light of the COVID-19 crisis, modern forms of communication such as telephone calls, video chat, and, of course, text messaging, are …›
Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) steered into a new direction that may accelerate the development of self-driving technologies. The DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), in an effort to modernize Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”), issued a notice of …›
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took yet another step to encourage production of basic medical supplies in the battle against COVID-19. On Friday, March 20, FDA published two new guidance documents communicating its policy on the manufacture of certain alcohol-based …›
COVID-19 is, quite literally, putting the medical supply industry to the test. Manufacturers are being pushed to develop novel products like therapies and vaccines to combat the disease as quickly as possible. The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act encourages drug and medical …›
The rapid spread of coronavirus has spawned prolific marketing claims that any number of products can treat or prevent coronavirus. It comes as no surprise then that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued their first round of …›
Courts scrutinize class action settlements to ensure they result from arms-length negotiations and are fair and reasonable to absent class members. Applying that standard to a nationwide settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook, on March 3, 2020, the Ninth Circuit provided a helpful …›
This week, President Trump announced that he intends to nominate Nancy Beck as Chair and Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The five-person CPSC has been short a member since the end of September 2019, when former Acting Chair Ann Marie Buerkle stepped …›
Earlier this month, a California federal judge certified six classes asserting state consumer protection statute claims in a multidistrict litigation alleging that The Coca-Cola Co. misled consumers about artificial flavors and added preservatives in its Coke products. See In re: Coca‑Cola Products Marketing and …›
On January 10, 2020, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the Fourth Circuit’s decision to strike the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) “government-debt exemption.” See Am. Ass’n of Political Consultants, Inc. v. FCC, 923 F.3d 159 (4th Cir. 2019). Because this federal statute …›
Lower courts’ inability or refusal to confine cases to their proper fora compels the Supreme Court to spend precious docket space restating the rules governing personal jurisdiction. The Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments limit courts’ authority to exercise personal jurisdiction over …›