James Gibson of Richmond has written Boilerplate's False Dichotomy, Georgetown Law Journal, Forthcoming. Here is the abstract: The argument against enforcing boilerplate contracts (i.e., contracts that no one reads) seems clear. Indeed, if this were a court case, we would say that the jury is in; the evidence against boilerplate is overwhelming. Yet the judge […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Here (behind paywall). Excerpt: [T]wo state lawsuits filed by the attorneys general in Illinois and Washington, [allege] that Sallie Mae engaged in predatory lending, extending billions of dollars in private loans to students . . .that never should have been made in the first place. * * * New details unsealed last month in the […]
Here. Excerpt: [T]his bill doesn’t fix what’s ailing the system. Instead, it seeks to eliminate group litigation altogether. If it becomes law, the bill could prevent consumers from litigating together the next time a company like Volkswagen masks its emissions and thwart General Motors’ victims from joining forces to recover if their car ignition turns […]
Here. The LA Times reports on the study in this story, headlined, Here's why Wells Fargo forces its customers into arbitration: It wins most of the time.
Here. Excerpt: Debt collectors will be required to comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which is designed to curtail abusive or deceptive behavior. * * * Critics say collection agencies have been known to call delinquent debtors six or more times a week, give inaccurate information and use dubious methods to force payment. […]
Here, from Insidearm.com. The headline is CFPB Director Cordray's Testimony Gets Off to a Heated Start
by Jeff Sovern First, Cordray. Here's what Politico's Morning Money reported: CORDRAY IS … STILL THERE – Compass Point's Isaac Boltansky and Lukas Davaz: "With a decision in the PHH case review unlikely until next year, and the path for a legislative compromise on the Bureau's governance structure becoming hazier by the day, all indications […]
by Jeff Sovern More here. One panel is on the CFPB proposed arbitration rule (I'm on that one) and consumer arbitration; another is on FAA preemption and nursing home arbitration; a third is on ADR in practice.
It's titled The Government Gorsuch Wants to Undo. All of it is worth reading, but here's an excerpt: Judge Gorsuch embraces a judicial philosophy that would do nothing less than undermine the structure of modern government — including the rules that keep our water clean, regulate the financial markets and protect workers and consumers. In […]