Stephen Piepgrass, leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Regulatory Investigations, Strategy + Enforcement Practice Group, was quoted in the May 2, 2026, DeFi Rate article, “Markets Favor El-Sayed in Michigan Democratic Senate Primary as Polls Stay Split.”
In this episode of Regulatory Oversight, host Ashley Taylor continues his multipart series on artificial intelligence (AI) with returning guests Gurkan Ay and Andrew Coles of Resolution Economics. Together, they move beyond headlines and hypotheticals to focus on how AI is being regulated today — and what companies should be doing now to manage risk.
On April 13, 2026, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed SB338 into law, amending Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) to prohibit controllers of personal data from selling consumers’ precise geolocation data. This ban, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, makes Virginia the third state in recent years to prohibit the sale of such data and reflects a trend that is likely to continue. Somewhat surprisingly, Virginia was the second state, behind California, to enact a comprehensive consumer privacy law and is continuing within that vein with this early expansion of privacy rights.
For years, we have written (here, here, here, and here) about the decade-long effort to vacate the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to “deem” premium cigars covered by FDA’s 2016 rule (the Deeming Rule), which swept all tobacco products under FDA authority. On April 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order that it characterized as “(hopefully) … the final chapter” in the litigation over how FDA regulates premium cigars. The parties have 30 days to appeal the order, but, if not, the order will stand.
On April 20, 2026, Attorney General (AG) Brian Schwalb announced that Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, will pay $9.9 million to resolve allegations of deceptive ticket pricing and hidden fees affecting District of Columbia consumers. The settlement provides millions in refunds to D.C. ticket buyers and requires Live Nation to maintain reforms that ensure upfront disclosure of full ticket prices.
Troutman Pepper Locke’s Securities Investigations and Enforcement team counsels and defends clients through all stages of securities enforcement proceedings. Our attorneys have served in key government agencies and regulatory bodies, and bring their insight to bear in each representation. The team includes a former branch chief of the Division of Enforcement at the SEC, former enforcement lawyers, regulators and government attorneys, assistant United States Attorneys and former assistant attorneys general, as well as in-house counsel for public companies. Our lawyers and practice have been identified as leaders in the field by publications such as the Legal 500, SuperLawyers, Benchmark Litigation, and Chambers USA.
On April 14, Iowa Attorney General (AG) Brenna Bird, leading a coalition of 13 state AGs, sent a pointed letter to Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Their message was clear: payment networks are expected to help shut down the U.S. market for unauthorized e‑cigarette products.
On April 13, a bipartisan coalition of more than two dozen state attorneys general (AGs) submitted a comment letter supporting the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed rule targeting so-called “junk fees” in the residential rental market. The coalition’s letter reflects growing concern that alleged undisclosed or misleading rental fees are worsening housing affordability and confusing consumers nationwide.
In its recent decision in Office of the Attorney General v. PFLAG, Inc., the Texas Supreme Court addressed the scope of the attorney general’s (AG) authority to issue civil investigative demands (CIDs) under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). The dispute arose against the backdrop of State v. Loe, a case challenging Texas’s statutory ban on certain gender-affirming medical treatments for minors. PFLAG, a nonprofit involved in that litigation, received a CID issued by the Office of the AG (OAG) based on statements made in a supporting affidavit, which led the OAG to assert that PFLAG may have information relevant to potential misrepresentations by medical providers to insurance companies.
The Illinois attorney general (AG) recently filed a brief defending the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA) in an appeal arising out of litigation captioned Illinois Bankers Association v. Raoul. The AG asked the Seventh Circuit to affirm a lower court’s decision to uphold the IFPA’s ban on certain interchange fees, also known as card “swipe” fees. The industry argues that the law is unconstitutional or inconsistent with federal law. The AG also asked the Seventh Circuit to overturn the lower court’s decision that the act’s data usage limitation is preempted by federal law.