Category Archives: Uncategorized

Under consent order with the CFPB, American Express ends its discriminatory credit practices in Puerto Rico and U.S. territories

As CFPB director Richard Cordray described it: Consumer financial protections are not confined within the 50 states. American Express discriminated against consumers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories by providing them with less-favorable financial products and services. They have ceased this practice and are making consumers whole. In particular, because they self-reported the problem and […]

Trump Administration Backs Off on Identifying Anonymous Web Site Viewers, But Important Free Speech Issues for Some Web Viewers Remain

by Paul Alan Levy Responding to an outpouring of popular outrage as well as legal filings (including one from Public Citizen as well as an amicus brief from Avaaz) showing that the First Amendment protects the right to read anonymously and can be used to limit the enforcement of criminal discovery demands seeking to identify […]

Seventh Circuit holds that unaccepted pre-litigation offer does not deprive plaintiff of standing in later-filed suit

The unanimous decision, by Chief Judge Wood, is Laurens v. Volvo Cars of N. America. Here's the beginning of the opinion, which sums things up quite nicely: The idea of a theme and variations is a common one in music. It should be in law, too. Here we return to the familiar theme of a defense effort […]

“Under Trump Rule, Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able To Sue After Abuse”

NPR reports on the Trump Administration proposed rule to allow nursing homes to require new residents to agree to arbitration as a condition of admission. A rule issue under the Obama Administration barred nursing homes forced arbitration agreements for nursing homes, leaving it to the two sides to decide whether they preferred court or arbitration […]

CFPB director Cordray’s op-ed in the NY Times

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray has an op-ed in the New York Times today, explaining the importance of the CFPB rule barring class-action bans in forced arbitration provisions.His conclusion: "A cherished tenet of our justice system is that nobody should escape accountability for breaking the law. Our rule restores consumers’ legal right to […]

Do congressional partisan-balance requirements for multimember agencies matter?

That's the topic of Partisan Balance With Bite by law profs Brian Feinstein and Daniel Hemel. It struck me as timely. Here is the abstract: Dozens of multimember agencies across the federal government are subject to partisan balance requirements, which mandate that no more than a simple majority of agency members may hail from a single party. […]

Wells Fargo, forced arbitration, and the principled conservative effort to preserve the CFPB’s arbitration rule

Jeff's coverage of conservatives who support the CFPB's arbitration rule (for instance, here and here) includes his re-post of Dean Clancy's recent U.S. News piece. You might also be interested in Clancy's earlier article that looked at the Wells Fargo scandal through the lens of pre-dispute, mandatory arbitration clauses. 

May contributions to Super PACS be regulated despite Citizens United?

Read Why Limits on Contributions to Super PACS Should Survive Citizens United by Albert Alschuler, Laurence Tribe, Norman Eisen, and Richard Painter. Here is the abstract: Soon after the Supreme Court decided Citizens United v. FEC, the D.C. Circuit held all limits on contributions to super PACs unconstitutional. Its decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC created a regime […]