Just after Thanksgiving last week, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion reversing a district court’s certification of a class in one of several actions brought by a consumer against Folgers and consolidated by the JPML. In the action on appeal, the consumer had alleged that representations on coffee containers featured misrepresentations about the number of […]
Is this cartoon, originally posted to the satirical Facebook page Benito Beet Beat, a true threat that is outside the protection of the First Amendment? That is what the County of San Benito California contends. The county sheriff proclaimed to the press that he was investigating the cartoon as a potential crime; even though the […]
The news this week is the ongoing Big Tech campaign seeking a federal law to preempt state regulations on artificial intelligence. As reported, some members of Congress are attempting to push an AI preemption provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass federal bill. The provision would block state laws from regulating the […]
Reuters is reporting that Stuart Levenbach has been nominated to serve as the next Director of the CFPB. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Levenbach appears to have no experience in consumer protection or consumer finance whatsoever. According to a February 2025 release announcing his appointment to a position at OMB: Prior to OMB, Dr. Stuart Levenbach was the […]
The past week has seen the announcement of two proposals to weaken mechanisms for identifying and combatting discriminatory lending practices. Last week, the CFPB issued a proposal to amend Regulation B under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which would eliminate disparate impact claims, significantly narrow the prohibition on statements that would discourage applicants or potential […]
On November 17 at 3:00 Eastern, former Steiger Fellows will take questions about the Steiger fellowship, a paid summer fellowship on consumer law and antitrust in attorney general offices for rising 2Ls and 3Ls. To register, please go to ambar.org/steigerwebinar. Please tell interested students.
In 2023, New York adopted a law prohibiting the sale of over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supplements “for weight loss or muscle building” to anyone under age 18. It defined the covered supplements as those “labeled, marketed, or otherwise presented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or muscle building.” Under the name “Council for […]
The debt collection industry, through its trade group ACA International and Fresno Credit Bureau, sued a Colorado official this week, seeking to nullify a state law that stops medical debt from being included on consumer credit reports. The debt collectors claim that the Colorado law is preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the […]
In 2024, the CFPB issued a rule requiring financial institutions to share a consumer’s personal financial data with other providers at no cost, upon the consumer’s request. Members of the banking industry sued. After the change in administration, the CFPB informed the court it agreed with industry that the rule exceeded the agency’s authority, and […]
As previously discussed on this blog, in January 2025, the Fifth Circuit upheld the Department of Transportation’s authority to promulgate rules under 49 U.S.C. s. 41712, which authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to “order…air carrier[s]” to stop unfair or deceptive practices, or unfair methods of competition in air transportation. The Fifth Circuit granted a petition […]