Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection: Understanding Enforcement Actions Brought by State Attorneys General is a guide to a critical realm of consumer protection - enforcement investigations, litigation, and settlements by state attorneys general. These state officials and their enforcement staff are on the front lines of engaging with companies over practices that are alleged to be deceptive or unfair to consumers or otherwise unlawful. Whether on their own, or with other states as well as federal agencies, attorneys general wield considerable power to influence businesses' behavior in the marketplace. Attorney general consumer protection thus has emerged as a distinctive area of practice - drawing in not just attorney general staff but also a substantial community of private practitioners, including attorneys who advise and defend companies when their business practices are challenged as well as attorneys who represent states as outside counsel.This book examines the set of unique authorities, processes, and practices by which state attorney general enforcement activity takes place. Chapters explore attorney general policymaking; enforcement authorities, including the state "UDAP" laws that are at the heart of this practice area; the remedies available in public enforcement actions; the investigative process; public records issues; states' collaboration with federal agencies; and what is perhaps the hallmark of state attorney general practice, the "multistate" investigation. Punctuating these chapters are case studies and essays that illustrate the breadth of economic activity encompassed by attorney general enforcement, from live-event ticketing to pharmaceutical marketing to potentially abusive debt collection. The book serves as a reference guide to both seasoned practitioners and newcomers to the attorney general consumer protection arena.

Ashley L. Taylor, Jr. is a partner with Troutman Sanders LLP and a member of the firm's executive committee and partners compensation committee. He is a member of both the consumer law and complex commercial litigation practice groups. He devotes his practice to defending companies in state attorneys general investigations and representing companies in administrative law matters and business related litigation. Prior to joining Troutman Sanders in 2007, he served as a deputy attorney general for Virginia. He is founder and chair of the ABA Subcommittee on State Attorneys General. Mr. Taylor was appointed by President Bush to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and has served on the commission since December 1984. He received his J.D. from Washington & Lee School of Law in 1993 and a B.A. in economics from the Virginia Military Institute in 1990. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to a U.S. district court judge. Brian E. Bowcut is a partner in the public client practice of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC in Washington, D.C. He represents state attorneys general as well as local governments as outside counsel in high-stakes investigations and litigation. Drawing on a career as a public- and private-sector litigator on both sides of the “v,” he has a wide range of experience in consumer protection, false claims, torts, and other civil matters.