Federal Court to FTC: Show the Receipts When Seeking Disgorgement

By Leonard L. Gordon & Mary M. Gardner on June 18, 2019

A new decision out of the Middle District of Florida may signal further erosion of the FTC’s authority to seek monetary relief as it sets forth a heightened standard of proof the FTC must satisfy to support its disgorgement calculation. In FTC v. Vylah Tech LLC, the court found Vylah Tech, a small tech company, liable for disseminating false and misleading information regarding its computers. However, the court completely shut down the FTC’s demand for…

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Stop the Presses: Third Circuit Limits FTC’s Access to Federal Court for Past Conduct

By Leonard L. Gordon, Michael S. Blume, Ellen T. Berge, Mary M. Gardner & Matthew S. Renick on February 26, 2019

The Federal Trade Commission suffered a significant blow yesterday. In a decision that many saw coming—bloggers here included—the Third Circuit curtailed authority the FTC has been using for decades to confront allegedly unlawful past conduct. The decision has a direct impact on the ability of the FTC to obtain injunctions against defendants for alleged past misdeeds. In its ruling, the Third Circuit held that the FTC can only go directly into federal court where it…

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BlueHippo in the Red? Not on the FTC’s Watch

By Mary M. Gardner, Ellen T. Berge & Leonard L. Gordon on February 13, 2019

Several high profile bankruptcies have occurred in recent years. Most would consider a bankruptcy proceeding a last resort. But some, seeking to expunge a debt, have contemplated that bankruptcy may be a safe way to avoid the long-arm of the law. The Federal Trade Commission, however, has taken great steps to ensure that an FTC judgment firmly stays on a wrongdoer’s balance sheet. In late December of last year, the FTC convinced a bankruptcy court…

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Court Sets Important Limits on Ability of FTC to Challenge Past Conduct

By Leonard L. Gordon & Mary M. Gardner on October 17, 2018

Believe it or not, the FTC’s power is not limitless. We wrote previously on an antitrust decision (FTC v. Shire ViroPharma) limiting the FTC’s ability to proceed in federal court to challenge past violations of the FTC Act. This week a judge extended that reasoning to the FTC’s consumer protection enforcement authority. In FTC v. Hornbeam Special Situations, Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. held that when the FTC proceeds in federal court pursuant to Section…

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Is Past Prologue for FTC Jurisdiction?

By Leonard L. Gordon & Mary M. Gardner on March 29, 2018

A recent decision in an antitrust case brought by the FTC in the U.S. District Court for Delaware could significantly limit the FTC’s ability to bring consumer protection cases in federal court and return the FTC to an enforcement model that it largely abandoned in the early 1980’s. In that case, the court held that the FTC can only sue in federal court where it is able to allege that the defendant is violating or…

Mary M. Gardner

Federal Court to FTC: Show the Receipts When Seeking Disgorgement

Stop the Presses: Third Circuit Limits FTC’s Access to Federal Court for Past Conduct

BlueHippo in the Red? Not on the FTC’s Watch

Court Sets Important Limits on Ability of FTC to Challenge Past Conduct

Is Past Prologue for FTC Jurisdiction?

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