Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's new briefing on class actions and mass torts. I'm Amanda Bronstad in Los Angeles. Back from the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm catching up on the chaos at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, what's on tap for the MDL hearing this week and a prominent plaintiffs lawyer's connections to an outside litigation funder.

Want to subscribe? This briefing—and others written by my Law.com colleagues—are now available. You can sign up for a complimentary trial here. In the meantime, please send your feedback to [email protected] or find me on Twitter: @abronstadlaw

CFPB Chaos: How Will It End?

The fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now lies in the hands of a judge.

A bit of background: On Nov. 24, CFPB director Richard Cordray resigned, one week before his planned departure. He named CFPB Chief of Staff Leandra English as his successor, only to have President Donald Trumppick his own replacement: Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

That led English to file a lawsuit against Trump. The case boils down to a procedural dispute. But it's left a lot of people in distress. (NPR's Domenico Montanaro had this amusing Tweet of Mulvaney bringing Dunkin' Donuts to his first day on Monday, presumably to smooth things over with employees.)

Why it matters: Financial firms fought hard against a CFPB rule that would have restricted mandatory arbitration clauses in some class actions. They see Mulvaney as steering the consumer agency in a different direction, while English “is going to essentially be a clone of Cordray.”

That's according to Ballard Spahr's Alan Kaplinsky. But more importantly, Kaplinsky said: “The industry needs certainty, and they can't have an agency where two people claim that they're in charge.”

Now to the lawsuit: Ryan, who's been covering the CFPB chaos, had this update on a Monday hearing in the case in Washington D.C.

Ryan said the judge, Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee confirmed in September, remarked that English's lawyer, former CFPB attorney Deepak Gupta, was asking for him to essentially enjoin the president. “That's an extraordinary remedy,” Kelly said.

MDL Preview: Equifax, Opioids

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation meets on Thursday in St. Louis—and there are some big cases on the agenda.

Most notable are 300 class actions over the Equifax data breach. (See my story). All eyes are on Atlanta, where about 25 percent of the cases have been filed and where the credit reporting agency is based. My colleague Robin McDonald has a rundown on who's supporting that venue.

But many opponents are leaning toward California (For instance: Kevin Sharp of Sanford Heisler Sharp, who's filed dozens of Equifax lawsuits).

Also on deck: The panel also will consider about 135 government lawsuits brought against manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids. (See my coverage here). There's lots of pushback against the requesting team, which includes Baron & Budd and Levin Papantonio. Attorney Linda Singer of Motley Rice, who brought one of the first opioid lawsuits, wrote in a court filing she had “serious reservations about the wisdom and manageability of” an MDL.

Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

A lead plaintiffs attorney who has criticized third-party lenders in the NFL concussion settlement is raising eyebrows for—ready for this one?—failing to disclose his own ties to a litigation funding company. My colleague Max Mitchell has this story.

Apparently, Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss was a director of Esquire Bank and its holding company, which provides consumer loans to claimants in mass tort and class action settlements, including the NFL deal. Seeger told Max that the court is aware of all third-party lenders “preying on retired NFL players.”

But the issue brings up a whole new question about outside litigation financing. Says Max: “The most interesting question wrapped up in this story is when should an attorney disclose potential ties with a litigation funding company. It seems the focus is usually on who's funding the parties and whether judges, or arbitrators are involved in litigation funding, but so far it doesn't seem like there's much discussion about when attorneys are supposed to disclose their own ties to third-party funders.”

SCOTUS Scuffle

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case that examines the role of state courts in securities class actions. Cyan v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund could impact a bevy of class actions brought against Silicon Valley's tech firms, according to Law.com's Ben Hancock. (Cyan, by the way, is a Silicon Valley telecom firm.)

Law.com's Tony Mauro covers the arguments here. His take? “The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed to agree on one aspect of a 1998 statute aimed at reforming securities litigation: It's all gibberish. An exasperated Justice Samuel Alito Jr. used the word “gibberish” three times during arguments.” Other justices, Tony noted, called the law “odd” or “obtuse.”

Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells argued for Cyan, while Thomas Goldstein of Goldstein & Russell represented Beaver County. Allon Kedem, assistant to the solicitor general, argued for the United States.

Tobacco on TV

TV and newspaper ads began running over the weekend warning about the health risks of smoking. There are no cartoon camels or handsome cowboys, but … well, see for yourself.

Big Tobacco was ordered to run the ads as part of a 2006 ruling in a Justice Department lawsuit against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and others.

The New York Times has an interesting piece about how the ads are a scaled-back version of what was originally proposed.

An Uber Headache

Last week, Uber acknowledged it had failed to notify 57 million users that their data was exposed in a 2016 breach—then paid $100,000 to the hackers to keep it quiet.

Two employees who played a role in that cover-up have since left, including Uber in-house attorney Craig Clark. (Here's Law.com's story).

Attorneys general have launched investigations, and 10 lawsuits have been filed (so far, plaintiffs firms include Stull, Stull & Brody, Keller Rohrback and NastLaw).

Add that to the pile of legal challenges on the desk of Tony West, whose first day as Uber's new general counsel is Wednesday, according to Bloomberg .

Perhaps, he should stop by Dunkin Donuts on his way into the office?

That's all for this edition. We'll be back with more on Friday.

Share your comments, feedback and story ideas at [email protected]. I appreciate your input.

Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's new briefing on class actions and mass torts. I'm Amanda Bronstad in Los Angeles. Back from the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm catching up on the chaos at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, what's on tap for the MDL hearing this week and a prominent plaintiffs lawyer's connections to an outside litigation funder.

Want to subscribe? This briefing—and others written by my Law.com colleagues—are now available. You can sign up for a complimentary trial here. In the meantime, please send your feedback to [email protected] or find me on Twitter: @abronstadlaw

CFPB Chaos: How Will It End?

The fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now lies in the hands of a judge.

A bit of background: On Nov. 24, CFPB director Richard Cordray resigned, one week before his planned departure. He named CFPB Chief of Staff Leandra English as his successor, only to have President Donald Trumppick his own replacement: Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

That led English to file a lawsuit against Trump. The case boils down to a procedural dispute. But it's left a lot of people in distress. (NPR's Domenico Montanaro had this amusing Tweet of Mulvaney bringing Dunkin' Donuts to his first day on Monday, presumably to smooth things over with employees.)

Why it matters: Financial firms fought hard against a CFPB rule that would have restricted mandatory arbitration clauses in some class actions. They see Mulvaney as steering the consumer agency in a different direction, while English “is going to essentially be a clone of Cordray.”

That's according to Ballard Spahr's Alan Kaplinsky. But more importantly, Kaplinsky said: “The industry needs certainty, and they can't have an agency where two people claim that they're in charge.”

Now to the lawsuit: Ryan, who's been covering the CFPB chaos, had this update on a Monday hearing in the case in Washington D.C.

Ryan said the judge, Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee confirmed in September, remarked that English's lawyer, former CFPB attorney Deepak Gupta, was asking for him to essentially enjoin the president. “That's an extraordinary remedy,” Kelly said.

MDL Preview: Equifax, Opioids

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation meets on Thursday in St. Louis—and there are some big cases on the agenda.

Most notable are 300 class actions over the Equifax data breach. (See my story). All eyes are on Atlanta, where about 25 percent of the cases have been filed and where the credit reporting agency is based. My colleague Robin McDonald has a rundown on who's supporting that venue.

But many opponents are leaning toward California (For instance: Kevin Sharp of Sanford Heisler Sharp, who's filed dozens of Equifax lawsuits).

Also on deck: The panel also will consider about 135 government lawsuits brought against manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids. (See my coverage here). There's lots of pushback against the requesting team, which includes Baron & Budd and Levin Papantonio. Attorney Linda Singer of Motley Rice, who brought one of the first opioid lawsuits, wrote in a court filing she had “serious reservations about the wisdom and manageability of” an MDL.

Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

A lead plaintiffs attorney who has criticized third-party lenders in the NFL concussion settlement is raising eyebrows for—ready for this one?—failing to disclose his own ties to a litigation funding company. My colleague Max Mitchell has this story.

Apparently, Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss was a director of Esquire Bank and its holding company, which provides consumer loans to claimants in mass tort and class action settlements, including the NFL deal. Seeger told Max that the court is aware of all third-party lenders “preying on retired NFL players.”

But the issue brings up a whole new question about outside litigation financing. Says Max: “The most interesting question wrapped up in this story is when should an attorney disclose potential ties with a litigation funding company. It seems the focus is usually on who's funding the parties and whether judges, or arbitrators are involved in litigation funding, but so far it doesn't seem like there's much discussion about when attorneys are supposed to disclose their own ties to third-party funders.”

SCOTUS Scuffle

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case that examines the role of state courts in securities class actions. Cyan v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund could impact a bevy of class actions brought against Silicon Valley's tech firms, according to Law.com's Ben Hancock. (Cyan, by the way, is a Silicon Valley telecom firm.)

Law.com's Tony Mauro covers the arguments here. His take? “The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed to agree on one aspect of a 1998 statute aimed at reforming securities litigation: It's all gibberish. An exasperated Justice Samuel Alito Jr. used the word “gibberish” three times during arguments.” Other justices, Tony noted, called the law “odd” or “obtuse.”

Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells argued for Cyan, while Thomas Goldstein of Goldstein & Russell represented Beaver County. Allon Kedem, assistant to the solicitor general, argued for the United States.

Tobacco on TV

TV and newspaper ads began running over the weekend warning about the health risks of smoking. There are no cartoon camels or handsome cowboys, but … well, see for yourself.

Big Tobacco was ordered to run the ads as part of a 2006 ruling in a Justice Department lawsuit against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and others.

The New York Times has an interesting piece about how the ads are a scaled-back version of what was originally proposed.

An Uber Headache

Last week, Uber acknowledged it had failed to notify 57 million users that their data was exposed in a 2016 breach—then paid $100,000 to the hackers to keep it quiet.

Two employees who played a role in that cover-up have since left, including Uber in-house attorney Craig Clark. (Here's Law.com's story).

Attorneys general have launched investigations, and 10 lawsuits have been filed (so far, plaintiffs firms include Stull, Stull & Brody, Keller Rohrback and NastLaw).

Add that to the pile of legal challenges on the desk of Tony West, whose first day as Uber's new general counsel is Wednesday, according to Bloomberg .

Perhaps, he should stop by Dunkin Donuts on his way into the office?

That's all for this edition. We'll be back with more on Friday.

Share your comments, feedback and story ideas at [email protected]. I appreciate your input.