Tag Archives: ABA

While the effect of the federal legislation modifying the FTC Red Flags Rule has been known for a while, the court proceedings that challenged the rule have now caught up.  The American Bar Association’s suit has been dismissed, and the American Medical Association announced it is voluntarily dismissing its case:  "The lawsuit filed by the Litigation Center of the AMA and the State Medical Societies,… More

On June 25, 2010, federal district court judge Reggie B. Walton of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a stipulated court order (.pdf) directing the  Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to delay enforcement of the FTC’s Red Flags Rule against doctors and medical practices represented by the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Osteopathic Association.  The FTC and AMA agreed to this delay in a Joint Stipulation (.pdf),… More

Last week the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) filed papers seeking summary judgment in the lawsuit filed against the Federal Trade Commission  (FTC) to exempt accountants from the FTC’s Red Flags Rules.  We first posted on this case in November, when the AICPA filed a complaint asking the federal court in Washington, D.C. to declare that accountants are not subject to the Red Flags Rules. … More

Two days before they were scheduled to go into effect, and on the same day that a federal judge ruled that lawyers should be excluded from enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced today that it was delaying enforcement of its Red Flags Rule until June 1, 2010. Given the timing of the announcement, the most likely explanation for the delay is that the FTC wants to give itself time to appeal the district court’s decision in the ABA suit.

In an order entered this morning, Federal District Judge Reggie B. Walton granted the American Bar Association’s (ABA) request that lawyers be excluded from enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) controversial Red Flags Rules. This comes as the legal community steeled itself for the FTC’s imminent November 1st enforcement deadline.

In a move threatened but not expected this soon, the American Bar Association today sued the Federal Trade Commission, in an effort to stop the application of the Red Flags Rule to lawyers.  The Red Flags Rule is scheduled to go into effect on November 1, 2009. 

The complaint (.pdf), which was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, with the goal of making clear that lawyers are not "creditors"… More

Amidst calls from the legal community, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) announced this morning that it was delaying enforcement of the FTC’s Red Flag Rules until November 1, 2009.  The FTC’s announcement of the delay emerged almost as a footnote to a public statement devoted largely to the FTC’s "redoubled" efforts to "provid[e] additional resources and guidance to clarify whether businesses are covered by the Rule and what they must do to comply." … More

Earlier this week, on Monday, June 22, 2009, the American Bar Association (ABA) President H. Thomas Wells, Jr. issued a public statement urging Congress and the FTC to exempt lawyers from the requirements of the federal Red Flags Rules, stating:

The Rule, adopted under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACT Act, is noble in its intent.  However, the Commission’s application of the Rule to lawyers is unnecessary and not supported by law. … More

A contact at the American Bar Association (ABA) confirmed by telephone today that the ABA Board of Governors is meeting this Saturday, June 13, 2009 to determine what position the ABA will take on whether lawyers and law firms are (or should be) considered "creditors" subject to federal Red Flags Rules.  Many among the legal community are hoping that the ABA urges the FTC and Congress to exempt lawyers from compliance with federal Red Flags Rules or takes some other action to limit the scope of the FTC’s enforcement. … More