Category Archives: Uncategorized

Can consumer claims that may not be litigated in a class action nonetheless be settled on a class basis without the consumer’s affirmative consent (and, if so, when)?

That's pretty much the topic of The Limits of Comprehensive Peace: The Example of the FLSA by Lonnie Hoffman and Christian Ward. Here is the abstract: Normally, cases can be settled on broad terms that release all related claims. Although there are added protections that must be satisfied when a settlement is proposed in the class action […]

Uber is about to start using self-driving cars. Really.

Read this article by Russ Mitchell and Tracey Lien. Here's an excerpt: The robot cars aren’t coming. The robot cars are here. A fleet of Fords and Volvos, capable of driving themselves, is fully equipped and ready to hit the streets of Pittsburgh within weeks. The cars will be deployed by Uber, the ride-hailing company. Experimental robot cars already […]

My Latest Times DealBook Op-ed

by Jeff Sovern Here, titled The Risks of Unfettered Capitalism.  The first and last paragraphs read: Capitalism may be the best economic system ever devised, but one of its drawbacks is that it provides financial incentives to harm and even kill people. Just ask those people who say they have been victimized bycigarettes, predatory lenders, Volkswagen diesel […]

Will a New Medicare Disclosure Work?

by Jeff Sovern As reported by the Times last week, patients who are held at a hospital for "observation," even if that observation lasts days, but not formally admitted, and later released to a nursing home, won't have their stay in the nursing home covered by Medicare. That stay can cost tens of thousands of dollars. So Congress passed a […]

FTC and DOJ Seek Views on Proposed Update of the Antitrust Guidelines for Licensing of Intellectual Property

by Jenny Hyde The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division seek public comment on a proposed update of the Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property, also known as the IP Licensing Guidelines. The IP Licensing Guidelines, which state the agencies’ antitrust enforcement policy with respect to the licensing of […]

New federal restrictions on marketing tobacco products to people under 18

Mitch Zeller, the head of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products, has posted Protecting the Public and Especially Kids from the Dangers of Tobacco Products, Including E-Cigarettes, Cigars and Hookah Tobacco. Here's an excerpt: This month, for the first time, FDA will be able to help protect the public, and especially kids, from […]

FTC Sues 1-800 Contacts, Charging that It Harms Competition in Online Search Advertising Auctions and Restricts Truthful Advertising to Consumers

by Jenny Hyde The Federal Trade Commission has sued 1-800 Contacts, the largest online retailer of contact lenses in the United States, alleging that it unlawfully orchestrated and now maintains a web of anticompetitive agreements with rival online contact lens sellers that suppress competition in certain online search advertising auctions and that restrict truthful and […]

CFPB expands foreclosure protections

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday finalized new measures to ensure that homeowners and struggling borrowers are treated fairly by mortgage servicers. The updated rule requires servicers to provide certain borrowers with foreclosure protections more than once over the life of the loan, clarifies borrower protections when the servicing of a loan is transferred, and […]