Updates

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

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

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.

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

American Community Media is a force for good — and it moves fast. Days after Monica and Kati briefed a group of journalists about predatory scams targeting immigrants, six outlets had published warnings in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese. And it wasn't only print media: Monica herself appeared yesterday to discuss scammers' new tactics on a live Spanish-language radio program, on KIQI in California. The show is aptly named "Información es Poder" (Information is Power). Thank

On March 24, Monica and Kati presented to an audience at Columbia Law School about "Taking the Public Interest Private." They're grateful to Professor Susan Sturm, who invited them, and to the event's sponsors: the CLS Center for Institutional and Social Change, Office of Private Sector Careers, and Public Interest/Public Service Law and Careers. They drew on Professor Sturm's wonderful book, What Might Be: Confronting Racism to Transform Our Institutions, and responded to nu

On March 27, Monica and Kati shared information about the alarming nature of contemporary immigration scams with a group of journalists during an American Community Media briefing. Scammers, they explained, are profiting from today's climate of fear in immigrant communities by pretending to be lawyers who can help return detained people to their homes and families. They described how today's fraudsters make their claims seem real, impersonating actual lawyers or using fake at