Author Archives: Brian Wolfman

Blaming the victim for “misusing” dangerous products

Consumer Product Safety Commission commissioner Robert Adler and law prof Andrew Popper have written The Misuse of Product Misuse: Victim Blaming at Its Worst. Here is the abstract: This paper addresses the legal consequences that surface when a consumer uses a product in a manner not specifically intended by that product's designer or manufacturer. If […]

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is quitting after about 2 years on the job

Here is the opening of the New York Times article on Gottlieb's resignation: Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, known for his aggressive efforts to regulate the tobacco and e-cigarette industries, said on Tuesday that he would resign at the end of the month.The reason he gave was family and his […]

The Centers for Disease Control is investigating the dangers of electric scooters

Electric scooters have simply showed up on the streets, placed there by profit-seeking companies, largely or entirely unregulated. Read this story by Sharon Jayson concerning an investigation into the large number of injuries caused by e-scooters currently underway at the Centers for Disease Control. 

Proving up torts involving self-driving cars via inference

Bryan Casey has written Robot Ipsa Loquitur. Here is the abstract: Accidents are becoming automated. From self-driving cars to self-flying drones, robots are increasingly colliding with the world. And one of the most pressing questions raised by these technologies — indeed, one of the great regulatory challenges of the coming era — is how the law […]

Credit bureau reform

Last week, the National Consumer Law Center's Chi Chi Wu testified before the House Financial Services Committee on continuing serious problems plaguing the credit reporting industry, including its failure to ensure the accuracy of credit reports. Among other things, the testimony identified these concerns: unacceptable error rates and the myriad types of systemic inaccuracies in […]

Inside the payday-loan industry’s efforts to ditch the CFPB’s payday lending rules

Read this article by Renae Merle entitled How a payday lending industry insider tilted academic research in its favor. It explains how payday-loan industry lobbyists bought (and sometimes wrote) research from supposedly independent academics purporting to show that payday loans don't harm consumers. Oh, and by the way, the payday-loan industry's lobby group "held its 2018 […]

Supreme Court grants review in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act statute-of-limitations case

The Supreme Court has granted review in Rotkiskie v. Klemm. The question presented in the 8-page (!) petition for a writ of certiorari is whether the “discovery rule” applies to toll the one (1) year statute of limitations under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692, et seq., as the Fourth […]

“Google reaped millions in tax breaks as it secretly expanded its real estate footprint across the U.S.”

That's the name of this story by Elizabeth Dwoskin. Here's an excerpt: Last May, officials in Midlothian, Texas, a city near Dallas, approved more than $10 million in tax breaks for a huge, mysterious new development across from a shuttered Toys R Us warehouse. … The developer, which incorporated with the state four months earlier, went […]