New Consumer Protection Litigation Trend Emerging: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
January 09, 2024 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
Consumer Protection
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
LATE NOTICE - There's no good time to receive a debt collection notice, but an emerging litigation trend suggests there is, in fact, a particularly bad time to find one in your inbox. As Law.com's Charles Toutant reports, debtors are increasingly filing suits claiming emailed collection notices sent at night are in violation of federal law. The brewing conflict could bring new opportunities for lawyers representing debtors, and new headaches for collection agencies. But guidance from the courts about whether such cases violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act appears to be lacking so far. Richard Perr, chair of the Consumer Financial Services Practice Group at Kaufman Dolowich in Philadelphia, said he expects to see such suits become more common as the collection industry abandons phone calls and postal mail in favor of less costly methods of contacting debtors.
BULLS ON PARADE - While overall M&A activity fell to its lowest point in a decade last year, the market has also shown signs of life, both at the end of 2023 and to kick off 2024. M&A activity rose by 23% in Q4, marking the strongest quarter for worldwide dealmaking since Q2 of 2022. And, as Law.com's Andrew Maloney and Dan Roe report, Big Law firms have announced a slew of corporate hires this week, including at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Mayer Brown, Kramer Levin and Baker & Hostetler. Recruiters at Major, Lindsey & Africa are seeing upticks in demand for attorneys in every major practice, said partner and vice president Kirsten Keegan Vasquez, including a turnaround for M&A. "People are really gearing up to address more deal work. With money as expensive as it was and recession worries throughout 2023, deal work wasn't the priority, but firms are now gearing back up because they're anticipating an increase," she said.
ON THE RADAR - Biotech company Immunogen Inc., its directors and AbbVie Inc. were hit with a shareholder lawsuit Jan. 8 in Massachusetts Superior Court for Middlesex County over the sale of ImmunoGen. The court case, filed by Hutchings Barsamian Mandelcorn and the Brualdi Law Firm on behalf of shareholder Robert Garfield, objects to the transaction because the price was well below the intrinsic value of the company, and the process leading to the sale was influenced by the personal interests and motivations of the defendants and the company's financial advisors. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2481CV00033, Garfield, Robert vs. Arbuckle, Stuart et al. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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