False Claims Act Insights - Is DOJ Allowed to Share Privileged Documents with Whistleblowers in FCA Disputes?
False Claims Act Insights - Powerful, But Not All-Powerful: CIDs in FCA Litigation
False Claims Act Insights - Help! I Got a Civil Investigative Demand from DOJ. What Do I Do?
What to Do If the Government Knocks on Your Company’s Door … or Breaks It Down – Speaking of Litigation Podcast
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 19 - The Fifth Amendment & Its Role in Parallel Proceedings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Government Investigative Demands
In a March 10 blog post, the new Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to enforcing consumer protection laws through Civil Investigation Demands (CIDs)....more
Andrew Ferguson took over as FTC Chairman on Jan. 21. Nearly two months in, and Chairman Ferguson’s FTC is slowly taking shape. Consumer protection complaints have begun to be filed (although of course these matters were in...more
On March 10, Christopher Mufarrige, the newly-appointed Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), published a blog explaining the significance of Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs)...more
This insight was initially published in 2022 and updated in August 2024. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has continued to ramp up its investigation and enforcement efforts to address unfair or deceptive acts or practices...more
Generally speaking, investigatory procedures, including use of compulsory process, may be used by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) attorneys in connection with the spectrum of activities that the agency is authorized or...more
The line between virtual and reality is getting thinner. Gamers pay gaming companies real currency for virtual in-game currency to buy skins, create the world they want to live in (virtually), or purchase loot that aid in...more
If your advertising or marketing practices have triggered a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation and you have received a civil investigative demand (CID) (i.e., administrative subpoena) or access letter, what’s next?...more
Anyone who has ever received a civil investigative demand, subpoena, second request, voluntary access letter, or other form of compulsory process from a federal antitrust regulator knows that the government’s standard...more
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously approved a resolution that authorizes use of compulsory process in examining companies’ “products and services that use or claim to be produced using artificial...more
On November 21, the FTC voted 3-0 to approve the omnibus resolution authorizing the use of compulsory process in nonpublic investigations involving products and services that use or claim to be produced using artificial...more
Total Wine & More (Total Wine) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are currently clashing in federal court over a civil investigative demand (CID) that the FTC issued to Total Wine, a third party in the FTC’s investigation...more
Making do on its promise to “use every tool” in its arsenal to regulate artificial intelligence (‘AI”), the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) unanimously approved a resolution on November 21, 2023 authorizing the use of...more
On November 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a resolution allowing it to use “compulsory process in nonpublic investigations involving certain products and services that use or claim to be produced using...more
On November 21, the FTC approved an omnibus resolution in a 3-0 vote, allowing the use of compulsory processes in nonpublic inquiries involving products and services produced or claimed to be produced by artificial...more
On November 21, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) approved in a 3-0 vote a resolution authorizing the use of compulsory process in nonpublic investigations involving products and services that involve or claim to involve...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently submitted a comment to the U.S. Copyright Office in response to its “Notice of Inquiry” in the Federal Register examining copyright issues related to artificial intelligence (AI)....more
On November 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has approved an omnibus resolution authorizing the use of compulsory process in non-public investigations involving products and services that use or claim...more
There have been reports that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is leveraging the long-dormant Robinson-Patman Act as a basis for civil investigations into potential price discrimination by distributors in the alcoholic and...more
Our newsletter’s title is a nod to the semi-scary Netflix series Stranger Things. No surprise we are VERY excited about Halloween. You may notice that our regular pop culture references have gone horror-themed for this...more
Publications and Advisories - July 31, 2023 – Dave Brown, Kate Hanniford, Kim Peretti, Julia Mediamolle, Cara Peterman, Sierra Shear, Kristen Bartolotta, and Kezia Osunsade published “Securities Law, Securities Litigation,...more
In mid-July, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reportedly opened an investigation into OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, sending the company an extensive Civil Investigative Demand (CID). While FTC investigations are normally...more
The Investigation - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently opened an investigation into OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, to determine whether the artificial intelligence company violated consumer protections laws. According...more
Many in-house counsel and employment lawyers have not dealt with the Federal Trade Commission, which historically has focused on antitrust issues and product markets – but that is fast changing, and that means you need to...more
While seventeen new state attorneys general are now sworn in and getting settled into their offices across the country, consumer protection continues to be the top of their agenda. Enforcement continues to take shape in...more
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) holds primary responsibility for enforcing the nation’s consumer protection and antitrust laws. While the FTC actions have traditionally focused on targeting large companies suspected...more