Welcome to the Trend Detection Weekly Scan from Law.com Radar. This weekly article highlights shifts and patterns in case filings that are surfaced by Law.com Radar’s award-winning Trend Detection system.
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This week’s highlights:
►Target’s under fire after its LGBTQ+ Pride Campaigns triggered backlash and boycotts.
► Product liability cases are mounting against cannabis companies.
► 'Meme coins' triggered a flurry of crypto suits in New York.
► Allstate is facing a wave of cases for allegedly using private info from mobile apps to hike rates or drop coverage.
Litigation Surge - Securities | Target
Target was hit with a flurry of securities lawsuits in Florida Middle District Court in January centering on the company's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives. At least four lawsuits were filed alleging that Target's LGBT-Pride campaigns in 2023 and 2024 offended the company's core consumers and triggered significant backlash and boycotts which caused sales to decline for the first time in years. Who got the work? Target has turned to Kirkland & Ellis for defense.
Litigation Surge - Cannabis | Product Liability
Law.com Radar detected a surge of litigation in the cannabis sector in Illinois federal courts in January. Five lawsuits were surfaced by the platform, four of which contend that concentrates, oils and other cannabis products contain excessive levels of tetrahydrocannabinol or 'THC,' the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Similar suits have also been brought in California, suggesting that a broader product liability trend could be brewing. Luisi Holz Law, a Chicago-based firm focused on employment and consumer protection, has been especially active on the plaintiffs side.
Litigation Surge - Cryptocurrency | New York
Law.com Radar detected a surge of lawsuits in the cryptocurrency sector in New York Southern District Court in January. Six cases were surfaced by the platform, including two securities class actions targeting crypto exchange Pump.Fun; the complaints allege that the platform, which allows users to generate and trade 'meme coins,' enables influencers and other individuals to market unregistered securities, many of which promote child abuse, antisemitism, racism, violence or self-harm. The suits further contend that sellers on the platform engage in money laundering and 'pump and dump' schemes.
Litigation Surge - Allstate | Privacy
Allstate was hit with a swarm of digital privacy class actions last month. At least eight lawsuits were filed in the Northern District of Illinois and the Northern District of California accusing Allstate and data analytics subsidiary Arity of paying mobile app developers to embed the defendants' software development kit or 'SDK' into mobile apps in order to collect information about driving habits such as acceleration, distracted driving events and trip locations without consent.
The suits contend that the defendants not only use the information to raise insurance rates or deny coverage, but also sell the data to third parties, including other car insurers. The suits follow an enforcement action by the State of Texas under a comprehensive data privacy law, which opened the floodgates for class actions against Allstate and Arity. The companies have turned to Sidley Austin for defense.
Litigation Trend - Arizona | Copyright
Copyright litigation is on the rise in Arizona. At least seven copyright lawsuits were filed in January, twice the typical monthly average and continuing a rising trend which traces back roughly 12 months. What's driving the trend? Most of the suits accuse businesses of posting copyrighted photos or videos on their websites and social media accounts in order to promote products, services or news articles without permission.
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