Photo: Ryland West/ALM Photo: Ryland West/ALM

The Trend:

Earlier this week, Carlton Fields released its annual class action report, in which it predicted that consumer fraud claims would "soar" in the coming year.

While the report specifically called out companies' use of social media, denial of medical claims, and debt collection practices as drivers of that trend, another strain of consumer protection litigation appears to be emerging.

Law.com Radar editors have noticed an uptick in consumer lawsuits challenging "buy now, pay later" features on e-commerce websites and targeting companies like Klarna, Affirm and PayPal.