Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

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 […]

Student essay asks if anyone would have standing to sue in federal court to challenge student loan cancellation

by Jeff Sovern Jack Hoover, a 3L at Virginia, has written Standing and Student Loan Cancellation, 108 Va. L. Rev. Online (Forthcoming 2022). Here's the abstract: As the public policy debate over broad student loan cancellation continues, many have questioned whether the Executive branch has the legal authority to waive the federal government’s claim to […]

Remolina paper on the role of financial regulators in the governance of algorithmic credit scoring

Nydia Remolina of Singapore Management University – Centre for AI & Data Governance has written The Role of Financial Regulators in the Governance of Algorithmic Credit Scoring. Here’s the abstract: The use of algorithmic credit scoring presents opportunities and challenges for lenders, regulators, and consumers. This paper provides an analysis of the perils of the […]

Some first thoughts about methodological problems with the Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Study

by Jeff Sovern The Chamber of Commerce has released a study about arbitration. I paste in immediately below the relevant portion of the press release, and then I identify some methodological issues with the study. A new study released today by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform found that consumers and employees […]

Arbitration and the myths of freedom of contract and free choice

by Jeff Sovern Earlier this week, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on consumer arbitration clauses. The consumer side was ably represented by Paul Bland, Myriam Gilles, and Remington Gregg. I want to say something about the arguments put forth at the hearing by Senator Toomey and Professor Todd Zywicki. Professor Toomey argued that […]

Amy Schmitz asks: Will the United States Remain Exceptional in Enforcing Predispute Arbitration Clauses in Consumer Contexts?

Amy J. Schmitz of Ohio State has written Will the United States Remain Exceptional in Enforcing Predispute Arbitration Clauses in Consumer Contexts? MARC. Revista de Medios Alternativos de Resolución de Conflictos, no 2, 34-39 (August 2021) at Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Here’s the abstract: American exceptionalism” has been used to reference the […]