The Restoring Statutory Rights Act of 2016, sponsored by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, was sent to congressional committee on February 4, 2016 for consideration. The proposed legislation declares that the FAA “did not, and should not have been interpreted to, supplant or nullify the legislatively created rights and remedies which Congress . . . has […]
Author Archives: Richard Alderman
In a recent post, Jeff Sovern noted that, “About two-thirds of US law schools offer neither a doctrinal course nor a clinic on consumer law, despite the significance of the subject.” In many cases, this is because there are fewer law professors interested in teaching consumer, rather than a conscious effort on the part of […]
On May 20-21, the Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston Law Center will present its bi-annual conference for consumer law professors, adjunct professors, and those interested in teaching consumer law. The conference is especially valuable to anyone interested in teaching consumer law as an adjunct professor. Registration forms, a tentative schedule and hotel […]
Gary Neustadter, of Santa Clara University School of Law, recently published an interesting empirical look at how similar legal proceedings are dealt with at the trial court level. “Randomly Distributed Trial Court Justice: A Case Study and Siren from the Consumer Bankruptcy World,” examines how virtually identical legal claims can result in randomly distributed justice. […]
As law school enrollment and job placement decreased, law schools considered many options to improve either or both. One proposal was a “two-year” law school, endorsed by President Obama. It was viewed as a quicker and cheaper alternative, and several schools began promoting their program. The plan was for students to go to school year […]
…..is the title of a New York Times article discussing how debt collectors use the courts to sue, but bar a subsequent suit by the debtor (or alleged debtor) based on an arbitration clause in the debtor’s original contract with the creditor. The article discusses several cases where individuals who either didn’t know about the […]
A federal district judge in Virginia on Wednesday rejected the Washington Redskins’ challenge to the cancellation of the football team’s trademarks as disparaging to Native Americans. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee upheld a previous finding by a patent and trademark administrative board that the trademarks violated federal law under the Lanham Act. The judge denied the team’s constitutional […]
I have longed argued that the problem with forced arbitration goes beyond whether it is “fair,” whether the consumer understands it, or whether it is cost efficient, here, here, and here. The real problem with forced arbitration is the affect it has on our system of justice. Recently, Professor Maria Glover of Georgetown University Law […]
I have found the discussions of the arbitration study, ‘Whimsy Little Contracts' with Unexpected Consequences: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Understanding of Arbitration Agreements,interesting, see, e.g., here, here and here.I wonder, however, whether everyone is missing a major point about forced consumer arbitration. Whether consumers are better off, worse-off or the same, and regardless of […]
This video, "Lost in the Fine Print," speaks for itself. I highly recommend it.