Insights < BACK TO ALL INSIGHTS
Influencer Liability: Will New-Age Litigation Net Celebrity Spokespeople?
FEATURED
December 12, 2025
Influencer Liability: Will New-Age Litigation Net Celebrity Spokespeople?
By: Lauren Scribner
The “influencer economy,” in which so-called “content creators” share user-generated content such as livestreams or short-form film, is showing no signs of slowing down. Currently valued north of $250 billion, it is projected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2027.[1] “Creators earn income primarily through direct branding deals to pitch products as an influencer; via a share of advertising revenues with the host platform; and through subscriptions, donations and other forms of direct payment from followers. Brand deals are the main source of revenue at about 70%, according to survey data.[2] Indeed, a recent survey indicates that 64% of consumers are “more willing” to purchase a product when it is marketed by their favorite influencer.[3] And “9 in 10 marketers…
What are you looking for?
The SEC Signs on to Arbitration
September 29, 2025
The SEC Signs on to Arbitration
By: George Calhoun
Early last week, on September 17, 2025, the SEC announced that it will no longer consider the presence of a mandatory arbitration provision in a company’s charter or bylaws when deciding whether to accelerate the effectiveness of a registration statement. This policy shift will permit companies to include arbitration clauses in their governing documents to require securities litigants (including class action plaintiffs) to pursue their…
Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule
August 19, 2025
Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule
By: Robert Ward
California law has often tested just how much room the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) leaves for states to regulate consumer arbitration agreements. Last week, in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court,[1] the California Supreme Court determined that at least one claimant-favoring provision of the California Arbitration Act (CAA), California Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.98 comes close to, but does not cross, that line. At the same…
INITIAL EXCHANGE OFFERING: THE NEW PARADIGM FOR CRYTPO CAPITAL?
March 18, 2019
INITIAL EXCHANGE OFFERING: THE NEW PARADIGM FOR CRYTPO CAPITAL?
By: George Calhoun
Crypto exchange Bittrex made news this week when it announced its first initial exchange offering (IEO), which it was to host through its Malta-based affiliate Bittrex International. Bittrex planned to offer its registered members the opportunity to buy RAID’s XRD token. RAID is an international gaming data blockchain project, with the goal to create a decentralized game data ecosystem where data can be freely exchanged…
Don’t Believe Me Just Watch: Choose Profits over Privacy and the FTC may Funk You Up
March 14, 2019
Don’t Believe Me Just Watch: Choose Profits over Privacy and the FTC may Funk You Up
By: Nicole Kardell
An app for children–wee ones even–to publicize videos of themselves jamming to their favorite tunes. An app that, by default, allows its users to communicate directly with any other users, including wee ones. An app that provides its users a list of other users within a 50-mile radius who they can follow or contact directly (feature removed in 2016). What could pervert-ibly go wrong? It…
UPDATE – NOT SO FAST INDEED: DISTRICT COURT BALKS AT SEC’S BLANKET CHARACTERIZATION OF TOKENS AS SECURITIES BUT THEN RECONSIDERS RULING
February 15, 2019
UPDATE – NOT SO FAST INDEED: DISTRICT COURT BALKS AT SEC’S BLANKET CHARACTERIZATION OF TOKENS AS SECURITIES BUT THEN RECONSIDERS RULING
By: George Calhoun
An issue of major importance to cryptocurrency and digital token markets has been whether tokens were all to be considered securities under U.S. law. The SEC’s frequent admonishments that it would consider ICOs to be securities offerings has caused a dramatic slowdown in the US ICO market. In one of the first cases to test the SEC’s broad definition, the United States District Court for…
Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill: America’s Amber Waves of Grain Turn Green. What Does It Mean For CBD Oil Products and Advertising?
December 21, 2018
Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill: America’s Amber Waves of Grain Turn Green. What Does It Mean For CBD Oil Products and Advertising?
By: Nicole Kardell
Much excitement surrounds the 2018 Farm Bill – the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 – which President Trump recently signed into law. The hubbub is all about hemp. The new law removes hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and opens markets across the fifty states to hemp and its many derivatives. Farmers and product manufactures are no longer hogtied by an antiquated prohibition from the…
Not So Fast: District Court Balks at SEC’s Blanket Characterization of Tokens as Securities
November 28, 2018
Not So Fast: District Court Balks at SEC’s Blanket Characterization of Tokens as Securities
By: George Calhoun
An issue of major importance to cryptocurrency and digital token markets has been whether tokens were all to be considered securities under U.S. law. The SEC’s frequent admonishments that it would consider ICOs to be securities offerings has caused a dramatic slowdown in the U.S. ICO market. In one of the first cases to test the SEC’s broad definition, the United States District Court for…
