A couple weeks ago we discussed (here and here) eBay's new binding arbitration clause that will keep its customers out of court and ban class actions. Now, David Lazarus of the LA Times has penned this article about eBay's efforts to take away its customers' rights through arbitration.
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
As explained in this article by Todd Ruger, the "liberal public interest group [Alliance for Justice] in Washington released a new documentary Monday that focuses on three Supreme Court rulings that the group says has favored big businesses at the expense of consumers and victims of discrimination." Click here or on the video embedded below […]
When a Supreme Court justice decides not to participate in a case, he or she is not required by law to say why (and rarely does). Similarly, when a party asks a Supreme Court justice to recuse and the justice doesn't, typically neither the justice nor the Court says why. In this extensive analysis, the […]
Sarah Kliff has penned this story about a controversial anti-obesity campaign run by Minnesota Blue Cross/Blue Shield. It includes this ad and this ad,both embedded below, about families that cannot stop eating, even though the parents appear to realize that the family culture that they are bestowing on their kids may be deadly. […]
In this decision issued on September 28, 2012, U.S. district judge Kathryn Vratil gave preliminary approval to most aspects of a complex class-action settlement but rejected a settlement provision that would have granted leftover settlement funds to unnamed governments or charities. By refusing to name the potential cy pres recipients, the court held, there was no […]
This article by Jerry Hirsch tell us that, with a boost from new California legislation, self-driving cars are not terribly far away. The hope is that the cars will make driving easier and promote consumer safety: Having a hard time parallel parking? Press a button on a touch screen and let the car park itself. […]
The consumer advocacy community often favors regulations aimed at protecting consumer and worker health and safety and establishing employment rights. Business interests–and the politicians that support those interests–are constantly telling us that regulations–all regulations–are "job killers." But where's the evidence? A conference held yesterday and today at Penn Law School addresses the question of the […]
This article by Marc Lifsher explains: By more than a 2-to-1 margin, California voters favor an initiative to require food manufacturers and retailers to label fresh produce and processed foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients. With less than six weeks until election day, Proposition 37 is supported by 61% of registered voters and opposed by […]
This AP story explains that that 22.4 million [U.S.] households, or 19 percent, had college debt in 2010. That is double the share in 1989, and up from 15 percent in 2007, just prior to the recession — representing the biggest three-year increase in student debt in more than two decades. … that 22.4 million […]
On Monday, Allison posted about the 9th Circuit's grant of rehearing en banc in Kilgore v. Key Bank. The question is whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts a California-law rule that says that claims for a so-called "public injunction" cannot be forced into arbitration (even if an arbitration agreement's terms puts those claims there). The […]