Category Archives: Class Actions

CEI: CEI Objects to Facebook Class Action Settlement that Pays Lawyers Nearly $4 Million While Consumers Get 22 Words of Nothing

by Jeff Sovern Here.  The 22 words consists of the following statement, to appear on Facebook's help page: “We use tools to identify and store links shared in messages, including a count of the number of times links are shared.” As a general matter, I am skeptical of settlements that provide only a disclosure on […]

Alan Kaplinsky Reports Rumor that CFPB to Issue Arbitration Rule By July 31 and Cordray to Step Down This Year

Here, in the Consumer Finance Monitor.  Alan also notes that the rule can be blocked by congressional invocation of the Congressional Review Act, litigation, or, if Cordray does indeed step down, by a new Trump-appointed director.

SCOTUS Personal Jurisdiction Case Likely to Limit Nationwide Mass/Class Actions in State Courts

by Jeff Sovern Yesterday, SCOTUS decided the Bristol-Meyers case, limiting the power of state courts to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants in cases brought by out-of-state plaintiffs.  State courts can still hear cases, including nationwide class actions, through their general jurisdiction over defendants, as long as the defendant is essentially at home in […]

Werner & Peterson Op-ed: Wells Fargo case shows how fine print can erode freedom

Here.  Excerpt: On June 7, a Utah judge will decide whether more than 50 consumers defrauded by banking giant Wells Fargo in its fake account scandal will be forced to pursue claims one by one in a secret arbitration system. Even as the bank’s PR machine loudly trumpets a focus on restoring consumer trust, Wells […]

Bloomberg’s Perry Cooper’s Thorough Report on the Status of Various Arbitration Rules

Here.  Excerpt on the CFPB's proposed arbitration reg: [Ballard Spahr's] Alan S. Kaplinsky told Bloomberg BNA that “it would be bordering on reckless” for CFPB Director Richard Cordray to finalize the rule because of the risk it will be overturned under the [Congressional Review Act].* * * Congressional Republicans will be in lock step against […]

CEI: Olive Oil Settlement Uses Slippery Tactics to Reward Attorneys at Consumers’ Expense

Here, in a report by Ted Frank (who is objecting to the settlement) and Will Chamberlain about Kumar v. Salov North America Corp., . Excerpt: The class will probably recover about $320,000 in cash; roughly 65,000 class members jumped through the hoops to file claims worth about $5 each. But class counsel is asking for […]

Have Class Action Notices Been Tested to See What Increases Consumer Response Rates?

by Jeff Sovern Sometimes when credit card issuers send out mail solicitations, they experiment with different forms of notice to see which one generates a higher response rate. For example, they may send out one mailing to 10,000 people with one prominent sentence on the outside of the envelope, and another to a similar group with […]

CBS News: Only 18 AT&T Customers Brought Arbitration Claims Despite Thousands of Overcharging Complaints

Here.  The story reports that AT&T has nearly 150 million customers and that the eighteen claims were filed in the last two years. UPDATE: See comment by Gregory Gauthier below.

My Latest Law Review Article: Free-Market Failure: The Wells Fargo Arbitration Clause Example

by Jeff Sovern It's for an arbitration symposium at Rutgers and is available for download here.  I would love to hear comments!  Here's the abstract: In September 2016, regulators charged Wells Fargo with opening millions of unauthorized accounts on behalf of its customers. When some of those customers filed class actions against Wells, the bank initially […]

Elizabeth Burch & Myriam Gilles Bloomberg Op-Ed on Proposed Fairness in Class Action Act

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 […]