The NAAG Presidential Summit, hosted by NAAG President and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, was held on August 9th and 10th in Des Moines. The Summit’s theme was Consumer Protection 2.0: Tech Threats and Tools. The Summit attracted 175 attendees from attorney general offices, federal agencies, and the private and non-profit sectors. Attendees enjoyed unseasonably…

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined Bank of America a combined $225 million for failing to disburse state unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic. Bank of America automatically and unlawfully froze people’s accounts with a faulty fraud detection…

Multistate Actions The bipartisan opioids executive committee of 12 attorneys general announced $6.6 billion in agreements in principle with opioid makers Allergan and Teva. Teva purchased Allergan’s opioid products and generic portfolio in 2016. The attorneys general stated that both settlements remain contingent on resolution of key issues involving settlement structure and changes in business…

Vigilance and collaboration to combat illegal robocalls and protect consumers was the unofficial theme of the recent 2022 Robocall Summit in Detroit. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost joined NAAG in bringing together staff from Attorney General Offices, federal agencies, industry groups, and others to discuss education, enforcement tools and…

I joined the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office in August of 2016, after ten years of private practice in Nashville.  Earlier that year, on a dark and stormy night, my car had broken down on the edge of town.  I walked to a roadside bar to wait for a tow truck, where I ended up shooting…

Introduction 1 In recent years, courts have decided several cases involving both the substance and timing of constitutional challenges to federal agency enforcement proceedings. Because the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital v. FTC, 2 curtailing the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) enforcement abilities, has caused the FTC to increasingly rely upon administrative enforcement actions, any…

I joined the Michigan Department of Attorney General in 2005, after spending two years in private practice.  Initially, I worked in our Public Employment, Elections & Tort Division, focusing on employment law cases and tort defense work.  This assignment provided me with significant civil litigation experience.  I represented multiple state agencies in state and federal…

Multistate Actions Led by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, 46 Attorneys General obtained a $1.25 multistate settlement with Carnival Cruise Line stemming from a 2019 data breach. Led by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares a bipartisan group of…

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an advisory opinion affirming that federal law often prohibits debt collectors from charging “pay-to-pay” fees. These charges, commonly described by debt collectors as “convenience fees,” are imposed on consumers who want to make a payment in a particular way, such as online or by…