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On April 3, 2025, the United States Department of Justice’ Antitrust Division hosted a forum on “Big-Tech Censorship” in which key Trump Administration Officials announced their desire to reform, or entirely overhaul, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. In March 2025, we wrote about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) inquiry into “tech censorship” and its associated request for public comments from those who “may have been harmed by technology platforms that limited their ability to share ideas or affiliations freely and openly.” That RFI remains open, and its deadline is May 21, 2025. Click here to continue reading.

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On April 2, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the reach of Section 1964(c) of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by holding that a plaintiff may seek treble damages for a business or property loss resulting from a personal injury.[1] The 5-4 decision has resolved a 3-2 circuit split over whether the RICO statute precludes relief for losses stemming from a personal injury. Click here to continue reading.

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Despite other sweeping changes to the federal government under the Trump administration, the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA), passed under former President Biden, remains good law. Below, we report on recent trends in FDA’s implementation and enforcement of MoCRA in the early months of Trump’s presidency.

FDA is continuing to monitor the cosmetic industry’s compliance with MoCRA. On March 13, 2025, FDA released data summarizing the number of active facility registrations and product listings submitted pursuant to MoCRA’s requirements.

Continue Reading MoCRA Under the Trump Era: A Look at FDA’s Monitoring and Enforcement Two Months In

“Right to Repair” laws are regulations that generally require manufacturers to give consumers and independent repair providers access to tools, parts, and information to repair certain consumer products and other equipment on fair and reasonable terms. Recently, six states—California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, and Oregon—have implemented their own comprehensive right to repair regulations. Click here to read a summary of these states laws and what companies can expect on a state and federal level.

On March 18th President Trump fired the Federal Trade Commission’s two Democratic Commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. The news broke when Commissioner Bedoya took to the social media site X, stating, “I am a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple.”

The firing of the Commissioners — each nominated by the President, and confirmed by the Senate— is the latest effort by the Administration to expand presidential power over the executive branch, including independent agencies. The dismissals follow executive orders from February 18th and March 14th, both asserting broad powers of the President over federal agencies.

News outlets report that both Bedoya and Slaughter plan to challenge the firings in court. The outcome of those battles could have outsized effects on the future of Humphrey’s Executor and the FTC’s governance, independence, and regulatory focus.

As reported on in a prior Client Alert, recent Supreme Court decisions weakening Humphrey’s Executor will play a pivotal role in challenges to the firings. Those decisions indicate that the Supreme Court may be willing to find that the Administration has greater power over once unquestionably independent agencies. 

In the meantime, the FTC’s permissive quorum rule allows the two remaining republican Commissioners to continue carrying on Commission action without new appointments.

Crowell attorneys will continue to monitor these and related developments.

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The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

Temporary restraining orders were recently issued against several companies that the FTC alleges deceived consumers. Additionally, the FTC sued to block the acquisition of a medical device coatings manufacturer. These stories, and more, after the jump.

Continue Reading FTC Blog Updates March 3 – March 7
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Key staffing changes are afoot at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), as two individuals have recently joined the Agency’s leadership ranks.

Brien Lorenze joined the CPSC as the new Executive Director on March 6, 2025, succeeding Austin Schlick. Executive Director Brien Lorenze most recently served as Senior Advisor in the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). Prior to this role at FinCEN, he served as Chief Data Officer for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, an independent oversight committee created by Congress in 2020 focused on pandemic relief spending. Mr. Lorenze has also held executive positions at Deloitte, BearingPoint, and IBM Global Services. In announcing Mr. Lorenze as Executive Director, Acting Chairman Feldman said, “[t]he future for agencies like CPSC will require us to leverage technology to make our work more effective and more efficient. We are lucky to have Brien join CPSC to help lead our efforts at such an important moment.”

Continue Reading CPSC Announces New Staff Appointments

Crowell & Moring is thrilled to announce its recognition in TFL’s inaugural list of The Top U.S. Law Firms for Retail Companies, specifically those specializing in fashion law, luxury goods, and consumer products.

TFL noted that Crowell’s Retail & Consumer Products team distinguishes itself through “a significant presence in the retail and consumer products industry. The firm offers a comprehensive range of services to its retail clients, including advertising and brand protection, intellectual property, litigation and trial support, mass tort, product and consumer litigation, and privacy and cybersecurity.” The publication highlighted our “substantial team size, variety of services, and active participation in the fashion law industry, including publishing articles on recent fashion law events, establish it as one of the top fashion law firms.​” This accolade underscores Crowell’s commitment to assisting fashion brands in navigating legal issues and safeguarding their creative and business assets, solidifying its standing as a premier fashion law firm.