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Chris Carlson represents clients in regulatory, civil and criminal investigations and litigation. In his practice, Chris regularly employs his prior regulatory experience to benefit clients who are interacting with and being investigated by state attorneys general.

On July 12, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (Commission) issued an order amending regulations for short-term lending licensees under Va. Code § 6.2-1800, et seq. (Chapter 18). This licensing regime stems from the Virginia General Assembly’s passage of the Fairness in Lending Act that took effect on January 1.

The Commission’s Bureau of Financial Institutions

On June 30, Governor Phil Murphy announced that Andrew Bruck would serve as New Jersey’s acting attorney general for the remainder of the governor’s four-year term. Bruck previously served as first assistant attorney general and has been part of the executive leadership team at the attorney general’s office since January 2018. Bruck succeeds former Attorney

If you use the internet, you have probably encountered at least one of the scams con artists use to bilk victims. There’s “catfishing” and other online dating fraud, where scammers use fake identities to woo victims into sending money. There’s also “grandparent scams,” where typically elderly victims are tricked by those posing as his or her grandchild into sending money for a faux emergency. Cryptocurrency’s recent rise in popularity has seen fraudsters put a twist on the old scams and come up with a new one: cryptocurrency investment schemes. And the Federal Trade Commission and state AGs are taking steps to put the public on notice and minimize consumer harm on this new twist.

While active in the space for several years, state attorneys general have taken increasingly aggressive action over the last year to regulate crypto-based products and services and prosecute those abusing this otherwise exciting innovation. In a recent article, we summarize the basics of crypto, as well as recent actions by state attorneys general involving crypto-based

Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of Washington, has released his 2021 legislative agenda. The requested legislation includes a bill that would self-impose notice requirements to Washington tribes before initiating a project or program that would implicate tribal rights. The legislation “requires that the Attorney General obtain free, prior, and informed consent before initiating programs or

On January 5, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced the creation of a new Office of Civil Rights, which will expand and replace the existing Division of Human Rights within the office of the attorney general. The new division is a prime example of state regulators’ expanded scrutiny of workplace activities occurring nationwide,

On January 18, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed Clyde “Ed” Sniffen to be Alaska’s next attorney general, subject to approval by the Alaska legislature. Sniffen has served as acting attorney general since the resignation of Kevin Clarkson in August 2020.

In December 2020, Sniffen was among the state attorneys general who supported an amicus brief

Seven state attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, reached a settlement with Residual Pumpkin Entity LLC (formerly known as CafePress LLC) (“CafePress”), related to a 2019 data security incident, exposing 22 million customer accounts and as many as 186,000 social security and tax identification numbers.

Background

Based on the state attorneys