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Shahin O. Rothermel

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Shahin Rothermel is an experienced counselor and defender who helps advertisers, retailers, merchants, and marketers advance their business goals while reducing legal and regulatory risks. Shahin provides clients with up-to-date, practical insights into the constantly evolving advertising, marketing, and e-commerce regulations, which allows her clients to make informed decisions. She has achieved successful resolutions, dismissals, and full walkaways in court, saving clients millions of dollars. She takes a pragmatic approach as a counselor, considering the implications of her advice for her clients' marketing campaigns and their bottom lines.

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A recent review of civil filings in Washington, DC reveals a conspicuous pattern challenging strike-through pricing: a single nonprofit plaintiff, represented by a small group of attorneys, has filed more than 150 lawsuits against online retailers across the country—many of them small businesses.

Surge in DC CPPA Pricing Lawsuits

A DC-based organization is filing the wave of lawsuits under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA). The lawsuits challenge so-called reference pricing, strikethrough, or “sale” pricing. They allege misleading price comparisons, failure to disclose material facts, and ambiguous representations that tend to mislead. The letters typically seek statutory damages of $1,500 per product purchased, plus attorneys’ fees. The plaintiffs allege that selling into DC is enough to create nationwide exposure.

Continue Reading Online Retailers Face Rising Risk from Strike-Through Pricing Claims

New York City is poised to strengthen local enforcement of autorenewal and subscription programs, largely mirroring and operationalizing requirements already imposed under New York’s autorenewal law.

On April 8, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), led by Commissioner Samuel Levine, published a proposed “Click-to-Cancel” rule that would require any business offering autorenewal programs to New York City consumers, regardless of where the business itself is located, to make canceling subscription services as easy as enrollment.

Continue Reading New York City Proposes Strict Click-to-Cancel Subscription Requirements

Join us as we offer a sneak peek into select chapters from the newly released 14th edition of Venable’s Advertising Law Tool Kit, which helps marketing teams navigate their organization’s legal risk. Want more? Click here to download the entire Tool Kit.

Commercial email marketing poses private litigation risks and regulatory hurdles that should be considered before launching any campaign to ensure compliance. The Federal Trade Commission Act requires truthful and non-misleading advertising, and the Federal CAN-SPAM Act prohibits false or deceptive email headers (which are generally defined as the sending domain names and “from” lines) and subject lines, requires opt-out options, and mandates identification of commercial emails as advertising.

Continue Reading Inside the Ad Law Tool Kit: Email Marketing

After the Supreme Court’s decision invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the plaintiffs’ bar has found a new hook for challenges affecting retailers. The litigation risk is landing not just on importers seeking refunds from the government, but on retailers, marketplaces, and service providers that passed tariff costs through to consumers. Unfortunately, this means that many companies affected by the tariffs in the first instance will now be hit by another target.

On February 20, the Supreme Court held that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, invalidating a broad swath of tariffs imposed in 2025. (Watch a recording of this webinar to learn more.) IEEPA-based tariffs were terminated shortly after the decision, and the ruling created significant refund exposure. Critically, the Court did not address how refunds should be handled. That last point is the opening plaintiffs’ lawyers are using.

Continue Reading IEEPA Tariffs Invalidated: Rising Class Action Risk for Consumer Pricing

From one-click checkouts to autofilled payment fields, the modern payment experience is built on convenience. Consumers have come to expect that apps, websites, and even their mobile devices will seamlessly store and deploy their payment credentials with minimal friction. But beneath this ease lies a growing legal tension, particularly in subscriptions and automatic renewals programs, where sales and marketing laws require clear disclosures before obtaining the consumer’s billing information.

ROSCA Compliance and Subscription Disclosure Timing

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit against Uber Technologies illustrates how this tension plays out in practice. The case focuses on Uber’s “Uber One” subscription program and how subscription enrollment is embedded within an app ecosystem where users have already stored payment credentials for one-off transactions. Under the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), material subscription terms must be disclosed before obtaining consumers’ billing information.

Continue Reading Stored Payment Credentials and ROSCA: Lessons from the FTC’s Uber Case

Last week, a federal judge in the Northern District of California ruled on Uber’s motion to dismiss a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging deceptive practices in connection with its Uber One subscription program. The complaint alleged violations of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) and deceptive advertising and marketing misrepresentations in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and numerous state laws.

FTC Uber Lawsuit and ROSCA Claims

The court granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss. The court granted the motion to dismiss as to only two discrete aspects of the complaint. First, it dismissed the FTC’s subclaim challenging Uber’s “$0 delivery fee” representation, holding that the statement was not misleading as a matter of law because it was expressly limited to “eligible” orders and therefore would not lead a reasonable consumer to believe all orders qualified.

Continue Reading FTC v. Uber: California Court Allows Claims against Uber One Subscription to Proceed

On March 13, the Trump administration issued an executive order (EO), “Ensuring Truthful Advertising of Products Claiming to be Made in America,” aimed at ensuring products advertised as “Made in America” or “Made in USA” are actually made in the United States.

The EO directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prioritize enforcement of unfair or deceptive “Made in America” or “Made in the USA” or any similar U.S.-origin claims and to consider proposing regulations that would require online marketplaces to establish procedures for verifying country-of-origin claims.   

Additionally, the EO requires agencies with oversight of country-of-origin labeling, in consultation with the FTC, to consider promulgating regulations that promote voluntary country-of-origin labeling for products made or manufactured in the U.S.

Continue Reading FTC Targets “Made in USA” Claims Under New Executive Order

On March 12, Venable’s Advertising and Marketing Group hosted its 12th Advertising Law Symposium in Washington, DC, bringing together in-house counsel, marketing executives, and industry professionals to examine the legal and regulatory landscape facing advertisers. The panels focused on a range of the latest topics in advertising law, including FTC enforcement priorities, pricing transparency, artificial intelligence, class action trends, and more.

In case you were unable to attend, here are some key themes that emerged from the day’s discussions.

Continue Reading Event in Review | 12th Advertising Law Symposium

Last week another court used McKesson and Loper Bright to limit requirements under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Following the Fifth Circuit decision we discussed earlier this month, a federal court in Maryland held that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks the authority to require businesses to obtain prior express written consent to send autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts under the TCPA.

In Bradley v. DentalPlans et al., the district court cited recent case law from the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits that has curtailed the FCC’s ability to interpret the TCPA’s “prior express consent” requirement.

FCC Authority Challenged in TCPA Interpretation

The court also noted recent case law in which the Fourth Circuit emphasized that that an agency must be delegated clear authority to both implement and interpret the statute at issue. Aligning with the Fifth Circuit’s decision, the Maryland court determined that Congress has only required prior express consent, and the FCC could not take a more expansive interpretation and impose a prior express written consent requirement.

Continue Reading TCPA Decision Weakens FCC Written Consent Requirement for Telemarketing

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a call for comments in response to its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Negative Option Marketing Practices.

The call for comments comes after the Eighth Circuit struck the FTC’s previous amended Negative Option Rule because the FTC did not issue a preliminary analysis of the benefits…