Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Luke Herrine paper: The Destabilizing Politics of Student Debt

Luke Herrine of Alabama has written The Destabilizing Politics of Student Debt, forthcoming in the Illinois Law Review. Here’s the abstract: This Article examines why student loans became central to higher education finance in the United States and how they have undermined their own centrality over time. As the liberal constituency for funding redistributive social […]

Guest Post by Hofstra’s Norm Silber: Surprise One-Sided Mass Tort Claim Settlement of the Roundup litigation

A comprehensive settlement of Roundup herbicide litigation is marching through the Missouri courts and scheduled to be finalized within the next three months.  There will be a flurry of media reports soon, emanating chiefly from the companies and the compensated class counsel who recommend the proposed deal.  This settlement is extremely disturbing to many affected […]

ProPublica: TransUnion and Experian are providing relief to fewer consumers who complain to Trump’s CFPB than they did for consumers who complained to Biden’s CFPB

Here, by Joel Jacobs. According to the article, “TransUnion’s relief rate, which had remained relatively steady for several years, began plunging in the summer of 2025. By October it was providing relief roughly half as often” and “Experian’s drop was even more dramatic. The company resolved nearly 20% of complaints in consumers’ favor in 2024. […]

Paper defending the CFPB

Amelia O’Rourke-Owens has written Tearing Holes in Consumer Protection, Democracy’s Safety Net. Or: 2-4-6-8, Dodd-Frank is pretty great! 3-5-7-9, policymakers must save the CFPB just in time! Here’s the abstract: Financial protection laws safeguard all individuals regardless of wealth, race, or age. Indeed, they impact nearly every person living in the United States, as it’s impossible […]

Paper on State AGs and Federalist Technology Regulation

Matthew Gaske of Indiana University – Kelley School of Business has written State Attorneys General and Federalist Technology Regulation. Here’s the abstract: Consumers are adopting novel technologies at increasing rates. These technologies’ versatility requires policymakers to weigh regulatory tradeoffs of increasing complexity. New laws addressing consumer-technology risks are slow to emerge, incoherent, or avoidable. Meanwhile, federal […]

Call for presentations for teaching consumer law conference

The UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice and the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana are proud to present the fourteenth biennial international Teaching Consumer Law Conference. We are also excited to announce that this conference will constitute the first-ever North American (and Caribbean/Central American) Regional Meeting of the […]

Times editorial board accuses FTC of using UDAP law to regulate news media editorial judgment

Here. Excerpt: The F.T.C.’s chairman, Andrew Ferguson, appears to be testing a novel theory: that editorial judgment can be regulated as a deceptive trade practice. In this view, a news organization’s slogan — such as “fair and balanced” or “without fear or favor” — is no longer a statement of mission but a marketing claim […]

Hypocrisy on the CFPB

As we have reported in the past, the Dodd-Frank Act requires that the CFPB’s director “shall appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives at semi-annual hearings.” But it appears that Acting Director […]