Category Archives: Consumer Law Scholarship

More From Mullenix on Aggregate Litigation

On Monday, Brian posted a link to Linda Mullenix's article, Ending Class Actions as We Know Them.  But Professor Mullenix has more thoughts on aggregate litigation, appearing in Reflections of a Recovering Aggregationist, 15 U. Nev. L. Rev., (2014 Forthcoming).  Here's the abstract: The past fifty years have experienced a radical reformation of civil litigation in […]

Stark et al. Article on Reverse Mortgages

Debra Pogrund Stark of John Marshall, Jessica M. Choplin a DePaul psychologist, Joseph A. Mikels, also a DePaul psychologist, and Amber Schonbrun McDonnell have written Complex Decision-Making and Cognitive Aging Call for Enhanced Protection of Seniors Contemplating Reverse Mortgages, 46 Arizona State Law Journal (2014).  Here is the abstract: This article explains what reverse mortgages […]

De Armond on FCRA Preemption and State Regulation of Credit Reports

Elizabeth De Armond of Chicago-Kent has written Preventing Preemption: Finding Space for States to Regulate Consumers’ Credit Reports.  Here is the abstract: The Great Recession awoke state legislators to the power of individuals’ credit reports to hinder economic opportunities.  Many legislators would like to assuage the effects of bad historical events on the futures of […]

Michelle Boardman Reviews Margaret Radin’s Boilerplate

Michelle Boardman of George Mason has written Consent and Sensibility: A Review of Margaret Jane Radin's Book, 'Boilerplate: The Fine Print, Vanishing Rights, and the Rule of Law,' 127 Harvard Law Review  1967 (2014).  Here is the abstract: In this book, Professor Margaret Radin offers a fresh look at the fit between boilerplate contracts and […]

Drahozal Chapter on AAA Consumer Arbitration

Christopher R. Drahozal of Kansas has written AAA Consumer Arbitration, forthcoming in Beyond Elite Law: Access to Civil Justice for Americans of Average Means (Samuel Estreicher & Joy Radice eds. Cambridge University Press).  Here's the abstract: This chapter has provided an overview of consumer arbitrations administered by the American Arbitration Association, the largest administrator of […]

Drahozal on FAA Preemption After Concepcion

Christopher R. Drahozal of Kansas has written FAA Preemption after Concepcion, 35 Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 153 (2014, Forthcoming). Here is the abstract: AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion is an important case for its holding that the FAA preempts application of state unconscionability doctrine to invalidate an arbitration clause with a class […]

Sharkey on Agency Coordination in Consumer Protection

Catherine M. Sharkey of NYU has written Agency Coordination in Consumer Protection, 2013 University of Chicago Legal Forum 329. Here's the abstract: The federalization of consumer protection has created thorny issues of agency coordination.  When multiple federal agencies interpret and enforce the same statute, should a single agency’s interpretation be accorded Chevron deference? Should it […]

Wilkinson-Ryan Article: A Psychological Account of Consent to Fine Print

Tess Wilkinson‐Ryan of Penn has written A Psychological Account of Consent to Fine Print, 99 Iowa Law Review 1745 (2014). Wilkinson-Ryan has a Ph.D in psychology as well as a law degree, and so brings to bear a different perspective in evaluating consumer reactions to fine print. I found this article useful in the research I'm […]

Has the Stanford Law Review Forgotten About Consumer Protection?

by Jeff Sovern A lot has happened in consumer law in the last half-dozen years:  To name only some of the highlights. consumer protection failures contributed to the Great Recession; Congress passed the Credit CARD Act in 2009 and the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010; Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has in turn […]

Austin’s Empirical Study of Student Loan Debt in Bankruptcy

Daniel A. Austin of Northeastern has written Student Loan Debt in Bankruptcy: An Empirical Assessment, forthcoming in the Suffolk Law Review. Here's the abstract: Education loan debt in the U.S. recently reached $1.2 trillion. Thirty-nine million Americans — nearly 20% of U.S. households — owe student loans, and student loans are by far the fastest […]