Jenner & Block is partnering with Chicago-Kent College of Law and FinTEx, a non-profit, member-driven community of the leading organizations within FinTech and Financial Services, for a first-of-its kind conference focused on the evolving regulatory and legal issues in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.  Co-organized by Partner Justin C. Steffen, the Block(Legal)Tech conference will take place on August 9 at The Law Lab at Illinois Tech Chicago-Kent College of Law.  The Block(Legal)Tech conference will feature presentations and panel discussions on the law of distributed ledger systems, tokenized assets and cryptoasset-based funding.  The day-long conference will include a number of discussions, interviews and debates, delving deep into the complicated issues that affect the crypto-landscape, such as the future of US regulation of cryptoassets and the government’s role in promoting blockchain adoption.  Topics discussed will include minimizing the risks of crypto-litigation, the role of lawyers, the evolution of smart contracts and their impact on the legal profession as well as other legal issues that stem from the use and implementation of blockchain technology.

To register for the event, please click here.

By Adam G. Unikowsky and Leonard R. Powell

On June 21, 2018, the US Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., No. 17-494.  In a 5-4 opinion by Justice Kennedy, the Court held that the Dormant Commerce Clause does not bar a state from requiring an out-of-state seller lacking in-state physical presence to collect and remit sales tax.  In reaching this conclusion, the Court took the unusual step of overruling two of its own prior opinions: National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, 386 U.S. 753 (1967), and Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992).  The Court held that stare decisis was an insufficient basis to uphold a rule it viewed as anachronistic, particularly in light of the explosive growth of e-commerce.

Wayfair is a major victory for states, who can now collect tax from out-of-state sellers and brick-and-mortar retailers, subjecting the latter to the same tax burdens as their online competitors.  Wayfair, however, does not hold that all tax regimes will pass constitutional muster.  To the contrary, it holds that such regimes will be subject to traditional Dormant Commerce Clause doctrines designed to prevent undue burdens on interstate commerce.

Background

Wayfair's issue was one the Court had decided twice before.  In Bellas Hess, the Court held that states could not impose sales tax collection obligations on out-of-state sellers who relied solely on the mail and common carriers to deliver their goods because the sellers “lacked the requisite minimum contacts with the State required by both the Due Process Clause and the Commerce Clause.”  In Quill, the Court overruled Bellas Hess’s due process holding, but reaffirmed Bellas Hess’s holding that the Dormant Commerce Clause forbids the imposition of sales tax collection obligations on sellers lacking an in-state physical presence.  In a concurring opinion, Justice Scalia, joined by Justices Kennedy and Thomas, emphasized that his vote was based solely on stare decisis.

By Alexander M. Smith

In the last three years, the Ninth Circuit and the California Court of Appeal have issued a pair of decisions clarifying that restitution under California’s consumer protection statutes is limited to the difference between the price a consumer paid for the product and the value the consumer received from that product—i.e., the “price premium” attributable to the defendant’s conduct.  See In re Tobacco Cases II, 240 Cal. App. 4th 779, 791-802 (2015); Brazil v. Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, 660 F. App’x 531, 534-35 (9th Cir. 2016).  Earlier this week, the Ninth Circuit continued this line of cases in Chowning v. Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc., which reaffirmed that “[t]he proper calculation of restitution . . . is price paid versus value received” and rejected a variety of alternative restitution models suggested by the plaintiff.  No. 16-56272, 2018 WL 3016908, at *1 (9th Cir. June 18, 2016). 

In Chowning, the plaintiff alleged that Kohl’s misled consumers by displaying alongside the sale price for its products an inflated “Actual Retail Price,” which was not the prevailing market retail price and which caused consumers to believe that they were receiving a larger discount than they were.  As a result, the plaintiff alleged that she and other putative class members were deceived into buying products that they would not have purchased but for Kohl’s misleading price comparisons.  In March 2016, Judge Klausner of the Central District of California granted Kohl’s motion for summary judgment.  He identified “three limiting principles” that defined the appropriate scope of restitution under California law: (1) that “restitution cannot be ordered exclusively for the purpose of deterrence”; (2) that any proposed method of restitution “must account for the benefits or value that a plaintiff received at the time of purchase”; and (3) that “the amount of restitution ordered must represent a measurable loss supported by the evidence.”  No. 15-8673, 2016 WL 1072129, at *6 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 15, 2016).