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Natalia Jacobo

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Natalia is an associate in the firm’s Regulatory Investigations, Strategy and Enforcement (RISE) practice. She focuses her practice on two primary areas: government contracting and state attorney general work.

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Warnings of an impending regulatory focus on hidden and junk fees materialized following President Joe Biden’s call to Congress during his 2023 State of the Union address to eliminate them. On December 17, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its final rule, Trade Regulation rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (Junk Fees Rule), which bans junk fees associated with live-event ticket and short-term lodging (hotels and vacation rentals). By focusing exclusively on the live-event ticket and short-term lodging sectors, the rule is notably narrower in scope than the originally proposed rule from October 2023, which targeted junk and hidden fees across all industries nationwide.

In the seventh episode of our 12 Days of Regulatory Insights podcast series, members of the firm’s Advertising + Marketing practice, Mike Yaghi and Natalia Jacobo, examine the evolving landscape of advertising and marketing regulations. The episode focuses on the impact of recent efforts to curb junk fees, state mandates for transparent pricing, and potential regulatory changes anticipated with the new administration in 2025.

As U.S. elections heat up, Republicans have put Democrats on the defense about the economy and the public’s perception of it. One talking point for Democrats in response, including in President Joe Biden’s last two State of the Union addresses, has been federal efforts to combat so-called junk fees.

Still, the strongest regulations are coming from states, and companies will need to keep an eye on all of these laws to comply.

The Basics

Last week, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that, effective January 1, 2025, Virginia will exit a California-led electric vehicle (EV) mandate and will instead comply with less stringent federal guidelines. The announcement followed Attorney General (AG) Jason Miyares’ issuance of an official advisory opinion concluding, as a matter of law, that Virginia is not beholden to broad, recently passed mandates adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which were also set to take effect at the start of the new year.

On February 16, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a significant move to combat consumers’ receipt of unwanted communications. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) already regulates automated calls and texts absent an exemption or the prior express consent of the called party. The FCC has now adopted new measures aimed at empowering consumers with the option to further prevent automated calls and texts.

In an era where privacy, security, and artificial intelligence are at the forefront of many business operations, staying informed about the latest developments is crucial. Our 2023 Privacy Year in Review is an in-depth analysis of the past year’s significant advancements and challenges in these areas.

Updated November 11, 2022 at 11:29 AM ET

2022 State Attorneys General Election Re-Cap

On November 8, 30 states and the District of Columbia held elections for state attorneys general. Below are the current results of the elections for each of the 31 races. We will continue to update this blog post as results are…