Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Professors who want an electronic version of the forthcoming new edition of our consumer law casebook . . .

by Jeff Sovern . . .  can get it here, by speaking to a West representative, or by clicking this link: https://signin.westacademic.com/Security/Login?redirect=%2fSAML%2fSSOService%3fSAMLRequest%3dfZJdT8IwFIb%252FytL7fQICDSNBiHEJ6sLQC29M6c6gydbOng7w39sNVLyApDc9X%252B%252FT93SCrCprOmvMTq7gswE0TrKIyQeMNgPo3Y3dzXBcuP2ox93RqA%252FuuM8DPrC5MAiI8wYahZIxiTx7SxAbSCQaJo0NBeHYDSM3DNZRRAN7Bt5w8E6chRURkpmucWdMjdT3UWylkN7B5hhnOVSCe1xVfjZ7WvpZ9pKB3gsOxHlQmkPHG5OClQitbsoQxR5%252BI6lWRnFV3guZC7mNSaMlVQwFUskqQGo4bSdTy003pyKkj%252Bt16qYv2Zo4M0TQLeFcSWwq0Gf919XyjxmOfMfkFq5QX5vhMayPxDlWpUTa%252BX%252Bbrz4%252FhkwnbTXtbNYX%252Fbfb2Q8GmV4FnvgXk08yNX22o5JFqkrBv1rbK2auK4Ve2EVE7hZdKW0k1sBFISC3fpalOsw1MGOXZHRjd%252BRPT6r%252Ff9%252F0Gw%253D%253D%26RelayState%3d%252FDocumentDisplay.aspx%253FDocID%253D26704%2526f%253D1%2526navTabIndex%253D1.  More information here.

Arbel & Shapira article on nudniks and consumer activism

Yonathan A. Arbel of Alabama and Roy Shapira of the Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, have written Theory of the Nudnik: The Future of Consumer Activism and What We Can Do to Stop it, forthcoming in the Vanderbilt Law Review.  Here's the abstract: How do consumers hold sellers accountable and enforce market […]

Chanrasekhar & Horton paper examines the source of the repeat player effect in consumer arbitration

Andrea Chandrasekher and David Horton, both of California–Davis, have written Empirically Investigating the Source of the Repeat Player Effect in Consumer Arbitration. Here's the abstract: Policymakers, courts, and scholars have long been interested in whether repeat players enjoy an advantage in forced arbitration. Sophisticated empirical studies of consumer and employment awards reveal that there is indeed […]

ProPublica story on how Utah payday lenders get borrowers jailed for missing payments

Here. Excerpt: Across Utah, high-interest lenders filed 66% of all small claims cases heard between September 2017 and September 2018, according to a new analysis of court records conducted by a team led by Christopher Peterson, a law professor at the University of Utah and the financial services director at the Consumer Federation of America, […]

New edition of our casebook coming in January

I am delighted to announce (maybe relieved is more accurate; it's been a lot of work!) that in January West will publish the fifth edition of the consumer law casebook that I co-author with Dee Pridgen and Chris Peterson. I'm looking forward to teaching the updated version of the materials that appeared in the last […]

CFPB Director Kraninger: Bureau will soon provide more clarity on meaning of abusive practice

by Jeff Sovern From Politico's Morning Money Newsletter: KRANINGER PROMISES CLARITY — Our Victoria Guida: “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger said … her agency will soon provide more clarity on what constitutes an ‘abusive practice’ by sellers of financial products, tackling an issue that has dogged policymakers since the financial crisis. … More broadly, […]

Raher Article on Consumer Law in Prisons and Jails

Stephen Raher has written The Company Store and the Literally Captive Market: Consumer Law in Prisons and Jails, 17 Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal  3 (2019). Here's the abstract:  The growth of public expense associated with mass incarceration has led many carceral systems to push certain costs onto the people who are under correctional […]

Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice Hiring Staff Attorney/Research Fellow

We received the following announcement: The Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice at Berkeley Law is looking for a staff attorney/research fellow to spearhead its work for consumer and economic justice in courts and regulatory agencies. If you know anyone who might be interested in joining the fight – or if you are that […]

Paper: Racial Disparities in Debt Collection

Jessica LaVoice and Domonkos F. Vamossy, both of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Economics, have written Racial Disparities in Debt Collection. Here is the abstract: A distinct set of disadvantages experienced by black Americans increases their likelihood of experiencing negative financial shocks, decreases their ability to mitigate the impact of such shocks, and ultimately […]

Frankel Article: Corporate Hostility to Arbitration

Richard Frankel of Drexel has written Corporate Hostility to Arbitration, 50 Seton Hall Law Review (forthcoming 2020). Here is the abstract: In the last 30 years, corporations have aggressively and successfully pushed the Supreme Court to invalidate virtually all state regulation of mandatory arbitration clauses on the ground that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts any […]