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Kahn v. Anthropic, PBC
Led by Vaca Daffan Law, Conn Law, and the Clarkson Law Firm, Kahn v. Anthropic, PBC is a putative class action complaint brought by named plaintiffs Karl Kahn and Solomon Smith. Originally filed on June 14, 2026 (Kahn) and July 27, 2026 (Smith), the actions were consolidated on September 4th, and are pending in the Northern District of California. The complaint alleges that Anthropic misled consumers about the usage and value of its “Max 5x” and “Max 20x” subscription plans
Monica Vaca
22 hours ago


"Firms that Fight for Justice" Event
On Monday October 19 at 12:30pm, Kati will join a panel of other Columbia Law alums to talk with law students about working at a public interest law firm. For more information or to RSVP, visit this link: https://www.law.columbia.edu/events/firms-fight-justice-pi-plaintiff-side-career-paths-2026-10-19. This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.
Monica Vaca
Oct 14


Washington Sun: The FTC Is Beginning to Probe the Sports Gambling Industry
Monica spoke with Jeff Stein at The Washington Sun recently about his reporting that the FTC is looking into sports gambling practices. He ended his story with a quote from her: "In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that Polymarket had flooded social media with deceptive videos by paid creators who appear to be getting rich on the platform, when none of the winnings were real. Monica Vaca, a consumer protection attorney who practiced for more than two decades at the FTC,

Kati Daffan
Oct 12


Podcast Appearance: Profit, Power, and Policy
Thank you to Bill Keep and Nancy Lasher for a great conversation on their podcast! Here's the description and a link to YouTube recording: "Scams are everywhere. Who is stopping them? Former FTC attorneys Monica Vaca and Kati Daffan explain how two Supreme Court decisions weakened the Federal Trade Commission: one cut off its main route to getting consumers' money back, and one ended its independence from the White House. On Profit, Power and Policy, Bill Keep and Nancy Lash

Kati Daffan
Oct 7


Hunterbrook Media: How Ethos Sold Wall Street on AI While Powering an Analog Boiler Room
Kati spoke with Hunterbrook Media in connection with its illuminating report on the world of multilevel marketers selling insurance products. The piece states, "although Ethos doesn’t directly employ FFL, GFI, Equis, or other MLM agents, the company could still be responsible for their conduct, says Kati Daffan, a lawyer with consumer protection-focused firm Vaca Daffan and former Federal Trade Commission official. 'The law is clear. If an outsourced seller acts like your age
Monica Vaca
Sep 30


Consumer Rights Litigation Conference
The 2026 Consumer Rights Litigation Conference & Class Action Symposium is coming up October 22-25 at the Atlanta Hilton. Kati will speak on a Thursday panel about "Creative Lawyering: Helping Consumers Harmed by Payment Fraud." Join Monica for a panel on Friday discussing appalling abuses of immigrants and approaches for "Using Consumer Law to Protect Immigrant Communities." And on Saturday morning, Monica and Kati will both speak about "AI, Dynamic Pricing, and Chatbots: Im

Kati Daffan
Sep 23


Wall Street Journal: Polymarket’s Rush to Grow Left a Door Wide Open For Fraudsters
Congratulations to Wall Street Journal reporters Katherine Long, Caitlin Ostroff and Neil Mehta for yet another groundbreaking story about Polymarket today: https://www.wsj.com/business/polymarkets-fraud-regulators-coplan-5f418ab0. They describe mind-blowing levels of irresponsible practices that make one wonder — where were the adults? The reporting about Polymarket "paying influencers to promote videos of fake trades—and target U.S. users with advertisements of its offshor
Monica Vaca
Sep 18


Tech Press Covers Consolidated Anthropic Complaint
This week's Anthropic news was rightly focused on AI safety, but we're pleased that members of the tech press also covered the consolidated complaint we filed, which alleges that Anthropic deceptively advertised its Claude subscriptions. For example, Hayden Field of The Verge called the lawsuit "a rare attempt to legally penalize AI companies for a widely held point of frustration: the industry’s growing money squeeze." Monica distilled our Anthropic lawsuit beautifully, as r

Kati Daffan
Sep 13


Consolidated Complaint - Kahn and Smith v. Anthropic, PBC
We filed a consolidated complaint against Anthropic for deceptive advertising of its Claude Max subscriptions - see below. We're thrilled to be working with Glenn Danas, Zarrina Ozari, and Michael Boelter of Clarkson Law Firm, in addition to our original stellar co-counsel from Conn Law, PC, Colin Hector and Elliot Conn. This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.
Monica Vaca
Sep 7


We're hiring law student interns for the summer of 2027
Vaca Daffan Law invites applications from law students who'd like to spend the summer of 2027 fighting for economic justice on behalf of consumers. Qualifications Candidates must be excellent communicators and team players with a demonstrated commitment to social justice. Working closely with our founding partners, summer interns at Vaca Daffan Law will assist with ongoing litigation and help build new cases. They will be involved in legal research and writing, interviewing c

Kati Daffan
Aug 21


Bloomberg Law: Prediction Markets Face New Threat in Consumer Protection Suits
Round of applause to Shweta Watwe for her article about harms from the prediction market industry and how our firm’s favorite legal tools can play a role in addressing them. Monica boiled it down well: “When we talk about consumer protection, what we’re really talking about is what is the effect on everyday people?” We also think our friend Adam Teitelbaum is right on: consumer protection laws are important tools for addressing emerging industries because they’re flexible, a
Monica Vaca
Aug 16


The FTC After Trump v. Slaughter
"The period of mourning, the time for tears, is over." Former Chairman of the FTC Bill Kovacic urged everyone to focus on the future in "The FTC After Trump v. Slaughter." Monica and Kati could not agree more. Thanks to Tom Dahdouh for organizing a wonderful discussion at the The GW Competition Law Center with the American Antitrust Institute, which featured inspiring insights from Becca Kelly Slaughter and perspectives from a diverse and committed set of professionals. Monic

Kati Daffan
Aug 2


We're hiring law student externs for the fall '26 and spring '27 semesters
Vaca Daffan Law invites applications from law students interested in fighting for economic justice on behalf of consumers. Qualifications Candidates must be excellent communicators and team players with a demonstrated commitment to social justice. Working closely with our founding partners, externs at Vaca Daffan Law will assist with ongoing litigation and help build new cases. They will be involved in legal research and writing, interviewing clients and witnesses, finding an

Kati Daffan
Jul 13


National Association of Consumer Advocates v. Polymarket et al.
Vaca Daffan filed a lawsuit today in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on behalf of the National Association of Consumer Advocates against Blockratize, Inc. d/b/a Polymarket and related entities, as well as Shayne Coplan and Matthew Modabber. The complaint alleges that the defendants orchestrated a sweeping and flagrantly deceptive marketing campaign that lures Americans into risking real money while obscuring how likely people are to lose. The complaint also acc
Monica Vaca
Jun 26


First Case! Kahn v. Anthropic, PBC
Vaca Daffan Law filed a class action complaint last night in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Anthropic, PBC, the maker of the Claude AI platform. The complaint alleges that the company misled consumers about the usage and value of its "Max 5x" and "Max 20x" subscription plans for individuals. We are delighted to be working with California co-counsel Elliot Conn and FTC alum Colin Hector of Conn Law, PC. Read the complaint here. This con
Monica Vaca
Jun 15


Consumer Advocacy Day
Kati was proud to join forces with the Consumer Federation of America and experts from across the country on June 2nd, as they advocated for consumers in 150 meetings on the Hill. They called on Congress to stand up for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the people it protects. They talked about defending and strengthening interest rate limits to address the affordability crisis. And they sounded the alarm about payday loan apps forcing workers to pay interest disgu

Kati Daffan
Jun 4


Multi-Level Discernment
by Kati and Monica We helped shine a spotlight on MLMs last week, and what it showed wasn’t pretty. On Thursday and Friday, Vaca Daffan Law hosted the 6th annual conference regarding “Multi-Level Marketing: The Consumer Protection Challenge,” which is organized by an inspiring group of consumer advocates. We were proud to have our firm listed as one of five event sponsors for 2026 and also take part in the conversation. Our high-level overview here will also point you to some

Kati Daffan
May 15


Monica and Kati Present Training on Phone and Text Fraud with Consumer Action
If you know someone who's worried about the explosion of AI-enabled phone and text fraud (which would be wise!), consider inviting them to a free webinar Monica and Kati are conducting with Consumer Action. You can register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8755264212303561056. Update - view the training here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oda9cdnDPIY. This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

Kati Daffan
May 11


We're co-sponsoring our first conference!
This Thursday and Friday, Monica and Kati will join a group of experts to discuss MLMs - an important consumer protection topic. You can find the agenda here: https://www.mlmconference.com/schedule2026. Register to attend the conference (virtually) at this link: https://tcnj.zoom.us/meeting/register/xZFf-CbeSGyKmHh1zNkA4g#/registration. We hope to see you there.
Monica Vaca
May 4


ACoM: Scams Increasingly Preying on Fear, Desperation in Immigrant Communities
You can read the full article here. Please help spread the word! This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.
Monica Vaca
Apr 20
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