Category Archives: Consumer Law Scholarship

Conti-Brown’s and Feinstein’s article finds grade inflation in CRA ratings

Peter Conti-Brown of Penn’s Wharton School and the Brookings Institution and Brian D. Feinstein, also of Wharton have written Banking on a Curve: How to Restore the Community Reinvestment Act, Harvard Business Law Review, Forthcoming. Here’s the abstract: The federal government’s primary financial-regulatory tool for combating wealth inequality is broken. Intended to push banks towards deeper engagement […]

Mark Lemley paper proposes presumption that standard form contracts cannot vary contract law defaults

Mark A. Lemley of Stanford has written The Benefit of the Bargain. Here's the abstract: Contract law has lost its way. Designed as a way to allow people to agree, it has over time become a means for large businesses to unilaterally impose terms and conditions on others. In large part that is a function of […]

Article on #Fintok and FinReg

Nikita Aggarwal of UCLA, D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye of the University of Leeds, and Christopher K. Odinet of Iowa have written #Fintok and Financial Regulation, forthcoming in the Arizona State Law Journal. Here's the abstract: Social media platforms are becoming an increasingly important site for consumer finance. This phenomenon is referred to as “FinTok,” a reference […]

Study examines whether data breach notification laws work

Aniket Kesari of NYU’s Information Law Institute has written Do Data Breach Notification Laws Work? Here’s the abstract: Over 2.8 million Americans have reported being victims identify theft in recent years, costing the U.S. economy at least $13 billion in 2020. In response to this growing problem, all 50 states have enacted some form of data […]

CFP for Berkeley Consumer Law Scholars Conference extended to 9/23

The abstract & outline submission deadline for the Consumer Law Scholars Conference has been extended to next Friday, September 23. Please see below for the information we received with submission instructions. Abstracts & Outlines Due September 23 Please consult the conference webpage for more information on the conference format, important dates, and expectations for abstract […]

Chris Peterson & Marshall Steinbaum Article on the Gig Economy, Consumer Protection, and Antitrust

Christopher Lewis Peterson of Utah Law and Marshall Steinbaum of Utah's Department of Economics have written Coercive Rideshare Practices: At the Intersection of Antitrust and Consumer Protection Law in the Gig Economy, University of Chicago Law Review, Forthcoming. Here's the abstract: This article considers antitrust and consumer protection liability for coercive practices vis-à-vis drivers that are prevalent […]

Paper on the FTC’s power to regulate discriminatory AI

Andrew D. Selbst of UCLA and Solon Barocas of Microsoft Research and Cornell have written Unfair Artificial Intelligence: How FTC Intervention Can Overcome the Limitations of Discrimination Law, 171 University of Pennsylvania Law Review __ (forthcoming). Here is the abstract: The Federal Trade Commission has indicated that it intends to regulate discriminatory AI products and services. […]

My latest paper: Not-So-Smartphone Disclosures

by Jeff Sovern I co-authored it with Nahal Heydari.  It's available here. And here's the abstract: Consumers increasingly engage in financial transactions on smartphones, including obtaining loans. Lawmakers depend on mandatory disclosures to alert consumers when loan terms are excessive. When those disclosures are provided on the tiny screen of a mobile phone, can consumers […]

Bruckner & Ryan paper compares complaints about fintech and traditional student loan lenders & servicers

Matthew A. Bruckner of Howard and CJ Ryan of Louisville and the American Bar Foundation have written The Magic of Fintech? Insights for a Regulatory Agenda from Analyzing Student Loan Complaints Filed with the CFPB, Dickinson Law Review, Forthcoming 2022. Here’s the abstract: This paper looks at consumer complaints about student loan lenders and servicers […]

Paper responds to Wilf-Townsend’s Assembly-Line Plaintiffs

Last year, we published a link to Daniel Wilf-Townsend's Harvard Law Review article  Assembly-Line Plaintiffs. Now Jessica Steinberg of George Washington, Colleen F. Shanahan of Columbia, Anna E. Carpenter of Utah, and Alyx Mark of Wesleyan's Dept. of Government and the American Bar Foundation have written a response to it, The Democratic (Il)legitimacy of Assembly-Line […]