Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Lawyer who created use of arbitration clauses to prevent class actions doesn’t read consumer contracts

by Jeff Sovern Probably my favorite podcast is Ballard Spahr's Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast. I learn a tremendous amount from it. Yes, it favors the industry view, as it is certainly entitled to do, but many episodes are devoted to interviewing consumer advocates as well. If you don't listen to it, and you like this […]

The CFPB should lower the amount credit card issuers can charge for late fees

by Jeff Sovern The CFPB has lately been up in arms over credit card late fees. Late fees and many other fees are troubling because it is likely that consumers don't think about them when choosing their credit cards. Classical economics presupposes that consumers will make optimal decisions if they know what prices they will […]

Neil Sobol asks for your help in updating the survey of law school consumer law offerings

Guest post from Neil Sobol: Howdy consumer law colleagues: This posting requests information to help update my survey on consumer laws offerings in law school. In an August 2020 blog,  I forwarded a chart created by my research assistant. The chart was part of a project to update the consumer law offerings chart reported in […]

David Dayen’s profile of Rohit Chopra in The American Prospect: “Washington’s Best Hope”

Here. Dayen paints Chopra as someone who finds ways to get positive things done through hard work and imaginative use of agency powers. How does the industry react to this? Here is one paragraph: Financial firms didn’t want to see anyone rousing the machinery of the federal government, and they groused about Chopra to anyone and everyone. […]

Lauren Henry Scholz article argues for private claims to enforce privacy rights

Lauren Henry Scholz of Florida State has written Private Rights of Action in Privacy Law, William & Mary Law Review, Forthcoming. Here's the abstract: Many privacy advocates assume that the key to providing individuals with more privacy protection is strengthening the power government has to directly sanction actors that hurt the privacy interests of citizens. This […]