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Chelsea Merritt focuses her practice on representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of complex civil litigation matters.

On October 29, 2020, the FTC hosted its most recent “Green Lights & Red Flags” workshop. This virtual workshop focused on recent fraud patterns, advertising compliance, and data security.

Fraud Fashioned Under COVID-19. The pandemic’s effect on the consumer protection world was front and center at this year’s workshop. According to Andrew Smith, Director of

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger is proving to be more aggressive than her predecessor, Mick Mulvaney. In recent weeks, Kraninger has issued seven orders strictly enforcing the Bureau’s civil investigative demands, or “CIDs,” demonstrating that she intends to be a vigorous consumer advocate:

  • In re Synchrony Financial (May 31, 2019): Kraninger rejected a

On May 6, a Ninth Circuit panel held that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s single-director structure does not violate the Constitution, rejecting a California law firm’s argument that it should not be required to comply with a civil investigative demand issued by the agency.

The CFPB issued the CID to Seila Law as part of

On February 25, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reauthorized their Memorandum of Understanding, or “MOU.”

The MOU, which governs the FTC’s and CFPB’s joint operations, focuses on five key areas of cooperation:

  • Joint law enforcement efforts – The agreement requires one agency to give notice to the other prior to

On February 13, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released model data privacy legislation and urged Congress to pass a federal data privacy law.

“Technology has changed the way consumers and businesses share and use data, and voluntary standards are no longer enough,said Tim Day, senior vice president of the Chamber’s Technology Engagement

After months of negotiations, on December 12, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, which is also known as the “Farm Bill.”  For banks and payment processors, the Farm Bill’s passage is an important development because the bill includes language removing hemp from the list of prohibited substances under the federal Controlled