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California Court Refuses to Certify Class Against Payday Lenders
On December 12, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California denied a motion for class certification by a putative class of Spanish-speaking borrowers in a suit brought against payday lenders. Stone v. Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc. , No. 08-1549, 2011 WL 6151636 (S...
InfoBytesAlstom SA Resolves Anti-Corruption Enforcement Action with Swiss Prosecutors for $42.7 Million
A Swiss subsidiary of Alstom SA, the French engineering giant, agreed last week to settle corruption-related charges with Swiss authorities and pay a total sanction of USD $42.7 million. According to an Office of the Attorney General (OAG) press release, Alstom Network Schweiz AF has been convicted...
FCPA ScorecardFair Lending Class Actions Following Wal-Mart v. Dukes
Nearly six months ago, in Wal-Mart v. Dukes , the U.S. Supreme Court vacated certification of a class of roughly 1.5 million current and former female employees of Wal-Mart who alleged gender discrimination in violation of Title VII. While doing so, the Court clarified the “commonality...
ArticlesNew York Appeals Court Holds State Appraisal Laws Not Preempted
On November 22, the New York Court of Appeals ruled in Cuomo v. First American Corporation , No. 184, 2011 WL 5838482 (N.Y. Nov. 22, 2011) to affirm two lower court rulings and allow the state attorney general to pursue state law claims against an appraiser. The court held that New York state laws...
InfoBytes"Taking a stand on taking the stand" by Hank Asbill (National Law Journal)
Whether white-collar defendants should testify ar trial is the subject of much debate among criminal defense lawyers. Ultimately, this critical decision must be carefully evaluated in every case, in multiple stages of the process. Balancing the risks against the anticipated rewards of a defendant...
ArticlesMERS' Foreclosures in Michigan Validated
On November 16, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld foreclosures by advertisement by the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc. (MERS) in Michigan. Residential Funding Co. LLC v. Saurman , No. 143178-9, 2011 WL 5588929 (Mich. Nov. 16, 2011). In the cases underlying the appeal, the borrowers'...
InfoBytesUS Department of Justice to Issue FCPA Guidance in 2012
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced that it will offer "detailed new guidance on the [US FCPA's] criminal and civil enforcement provisions" in 2012. In the same conference keynote address, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer spoke about a number of...
FCPA ScorecardMichigan Toughens Mortgage Fraud Laws
On October 20, Michigan enacted several new laws aimed at enhancing the state's ability to pursue mortgage fraud and related criminal activity. The centerpiece of the legislative package (SB 43) amends state law, effective January 1, 2012, to create the felony crime of mortgage fraud. The new crime...
InfoBytesFirst Circuit Rules that Stores Should Pay Shoppers' Mitigation Costs for Losing Payment Card Numbers
On October 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit kept alive a case by holding that, in Maine, customers may bring negligence and implied contract claims against merchants that lose or fail to protect their payment card data and that those customers may recover their reasonably-...
InfoBytesFirst Do No Harm: An Analysis of the Broad Powers of the CFPB
In his remarks at the signing ceremony for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, President Obama promised that the arsenal of consumer protections included in the new law would be "enforced by a new consumer watchdog with just one job: looking out for people -- not big...
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