Is your photo online? Are you on Facebook? If so, retailers can ID you and your shopping profile

Decades ago, George Orwell wrote a famous novel, 1984, that envisioned a then-future world in which “Big Brother”—a totalitarian government—was watching its citizens through a variety of electronic gadgetry and might at any time bark orders at individuals through a loudspeaker or television screen. That world doesn’t yet exist, as…

May 20, 2013 1:40 PM CDT

Pay law firm the disputed $94, plus $5K more, top state court tells couple

Updated: Sued by a Montana law firm in 2010 over a $2,800 unpaid legal bill, Daniel and Valery O’Connell anted up some $3,000 but disputed $93.99 of the total. The result was additional litigation, a default judgment and an eventual determination by the state’s highest court earlier this month that…

May 20, 2013 12:00 PM CDT

$40M Skechers settlement approved in class action targeting toning-shoe claims

A federal judge in Louisville has approved a $40 million settlement in a consumer class action alleging Skechers made unfounded claims about the benefits of its toning shoes. The company was targeted for claims that the shoes strengthened muscles and promoted weight loss, report the Associated Press, UPI and MSN…

May 14, 2013 12:48 PM CDT

Calif. AG sues JPMorgan Chase, alleges ‘robo-signing’ and ‘sewer service’ in credit-card suits

California’s attorney general sued one of the nation’s biggest banks on Thursday, alleging that JPMorgan Chase & Co.had engaged in widespread “robo-signing” of documents in credit card collection lawsuits. “To maintain this breakneck pace” while dealing with a glut of litigation against delinquent cardholders, the lending institution created a “debt…

May 9, 2013 10:52 PM CDT

New federal agency sues 2 law firms over debt-relief fees; one attorney is also criminally charged

A new federal agency filed a lawsuit Tuesday against two New York City area law firms and an attorney who owns a related business. It contends that they charged illegal advance fees for so-called debt-relief services that provided little or no benefit to consumers, who routinely lost amounts ranging from…

May 7, 2013 9:37 PM CDT

Australia’s publicly traded Slater & Gordon raising $64M to buy more UK personal injury firms

In its continuing drive to dominate the global personal injury and consumer legal market, Slater & Gordon is raising $63.9 million to expand its British personal injury practice. The plaintiff megafirm has struck deals to buy three United Kingdom law firms at a total cost of about $35 million, according…

May 7, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Cheap bus ticket included a trip to small-claims court for unwary students

A 50-cent bus fare purchased by a University of Illinois student for a November 2011 trip to visit a friend at Illinois State University got a lot more expensive when, more than a year later, the bus company sent him a demand letter by Federal Express. It said Ryan Tompkins…

May 3, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Should the cellphone industry do more to end the trade in stolen smartphones?

Stolen cellphones account for nearly half of the robberies in San Francisco and are such a common problem in Chicago that authorities urge riders not to use smartphones on the city’s mass transit system. But the problem could be greatly reduced, some say, if handset makers and carriers did more…

May 2, 2013 6:30 PM CDT

In ‘truly bizarre’ situation, FDA, DOJ and federal judge differ on ‘Plan B’ pill sale to teens

In the latest round of a hard-fought political battle over the issue of whether the so-called morning-after birth control pill should be available without a prescription to 15- and 16-year-olds, a federal regulatory agency has told pharmacies they are free to sell one brand, Plan B One-Step, over the counter,…

May 2, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Frugal senior can’t use mileage points for final trip home because she will then be ‘cargo’

Thinking ahead, a woman in her mid-90s has raised the question of whether the mileage points she has accumulated with a major airline can be used for her final flight to her home state, after her demise. The answer, according to an airline spokesperson contacted by Dear Abby, is no.…

May 1, 2013 5:22 PM CDT

Should this toy be saved?

May 1, 2013 10:10 AM CDT

Attorneys push for change in debt collection

May 1, 2013 8:20 AM CDT

Soda-order spat, claim of unflushed toilet leads to police involvement and lawsuit against airline

An airline passenger who says his refusal to order a soda on a computer touch screen led to his being detained and questioned by authorities after the plane landed has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over the April 2012 incident. Salvatore Bevivino says he was falsely accused of swearing…

Apr 30, 2013 6:29 PM CDT

Dangerous desk toy Buckyballs voluntarily recalled by retailers

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, stymied in attempts to get a manufacturer to foot the bill, persuaded several prominent retailers to voluntarily join the agency in a recall of Buckyballs, the super-magnet desk toys which have seriously damaged the intestines of children who swallow them. The CPSC sought the cooperation…

Apr 29, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

Lawyer learns the hard way about limits of bank safe-deposit box protection

The fine print in contracts for renting a bank safe-deposit box explain that valuables placed in them by customers, unlike ordinary checking and savings accounts, aren’t covered by the FDIC insurance. But a lot of people may not understand that. Among those who learned this information the hard way was…

Apr 26, 2013 4:35 PM CDT