On January 31, 2025, in Campos v. TJX Companies, Inc., No. 24-cv-11067, the District of Massachusetts granted a motion to dismiss a class action due to the plaintiff’s lack of standing. The court concluded that the named...more
We are pleased to present our final 2024 update to the New England and First Circuit Class Action Tracker, which focuses on class action filings in state and federal courts within the boundaries of the First Circuit in New...more
3/27/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Class Action ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Health Care Providers ,
Popular ,
Securities Regulation ,
TCPA
On Friday, January 24, 2025, just one business day before it was to take effect on January 27, the Eleventh Circuit vacated the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) One-to-One Consent Rule that was adopted as an...more
1/30/2025
/ Appeals ,
Chevron Deference ,
Compliance ,
Consent ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
FCC ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Robocalling ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing
With the increase in AI-related litigation and regulatory action, it is critical for companies to monitor the AI technology landscape and think proactively about how to minimize risk. To help companies navigate these...more
1/23/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Privacy Laws ,
Tracking Systems ,
Wiretapping
We are pleased to present our second quarter 2024 update to the New England and First Circuit Class Action Tracker, which focuses on class action filings in state and federal courts within the boundaries of the First Circuit...more
In 2023, we discussed the uptick in data privacy and cybersecurity class action lawsuits; as expected, this trend has persisted throughout 2024 as plaintiffs continue to test new theories of liability and the boundaries of...more
7/19/2024
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Privacy Laws ,
Video Privacy Protection Act ,
Wiretapping
On April 29, 2024, the Supreme Court issued an Order List indicating that certiorari had been denied in Brinker International, Inc. v. Steinmetz, Docket No. 23-648.
The Eleventh Circuit Brinker Decision -
Brinker was...more
Earlier in 2023, we launched our New England and First Circuit Class Action Tracker, as a tool to analyze class action litigation trends in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. In July, we updated our...more
In this latest installment of our ongoing consumer privacy series, we focus on potential digital and offline accessibility requirements in the context of the wave of new U.S. state consumer privacy laws.
In the continued...more
8/25/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Arbitration ,
California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
Human Rights ,
Personal Information ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Privacy Laws ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
In Webb v. Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC, the First Circuit recently reversed a lower court’s dismissal of class action claims brought by former pharmacy patients alleging that their sensitive personal information had been...more
In this third installment on the enforcement of U.S. consumer data privacy laws, we focus on the role of private litigants. Following our discussions of state and federal government enforcement, this post focuses on the third...more
7/12/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Breach of Contract ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Privacy ,
DPPA ,
Enforcement ,
Privacy Laws ,
Securities Fraud ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Video Privacy Protection Act ,
Wiretapping
On March 27, 2023, the Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari by Acheson Hotels in Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Deborah Laufer, Case No. 21-1410. In its petition to appeal from an earlier First Circuit decision...more
5/19/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Labeling ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marketing ,
Public Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Websites
In this second installment, we focus on the role of state attorneys general in enforcing U.S. consumer data privacy laws. For our most recent previous article, click here. Most federal privacy laws do not preempt applicable...more
A threshold consideration for businesses trying to understand the actors that enforce U.S. consumer privacy laws is an analysis of which laws apply to that business. This is because U.S. consumer privacy laws exist as a...more
4/26/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FERPA ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
State Privacy Laws
The first question most businesses ask, understandably, is whether they are subject to the new wave of U.S. state privacy laws. For our largest clients, the answer is often a straightforward yes; but for midsize and small...more
On October 18, 2022, in Webb v. Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC, the District of Massachusetts dismissed a class action complaint brought by former pharmacy patients alleging that their sensitive personal information had been...more
On October 5, 2022, in Laufer v. Acheson Hotels LLC, the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a suit against Acheson Hotels, LLC, which operates an inn on Maine’s southern coast....more
For businesses that collect, process, and explore innovative uses of personal information, last month marked a watershed moment in the ongoing evolution of the U.S. regulatory landscape. Cracking down on the cosmetics brand...more
With another legislative session set to close, the Massachusetts Legislature has yet again punted the issue of comprehensive consumer data privacy to a future term. This development may come as a disappointment or relief,...more
On February 2, 2022, the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity advanced an amended comprehensive data privacy bill, the Massachusetts Information Privacy and Security Act,...more
On March 25, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Squeri v. Mount Ida College upheld the lower court’s dismissal of prospective and former Mount Ida College students’ claims against the college and its Board of...more
Massachusetts consumers and businesses now know that the Commonwealth will likely not be the next jurisdiction to adopt sweeping consumer data privacy legislation. Earlier last week, the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection...more
2/10/2020
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Information Governance ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Online Platforms ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
On October 7, 2019, the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure held a hearing on pending legislation, including An Act Relative to Consumer Data Privacy (S.120). Modeled on the California Consumer...more
10/14/2019
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Pending Legislation ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Laws ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
Earlier this year, Massachusetts state senators introduced a consumer data privacy bill with a private right of action that could become the broadest in the country. ...more