Category Archives: Uncategorized

Reuters: Republican Marco Rubio winning Wall Street fundraising race

Here.  Excerpt:   The U.S. senator from Florida has received more than $4 million from the employees of banks and investment firms like Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) since launching his bid for the presidency last year, according to the analysis of individual donations totaling more […]

Self-help against non-disparagement clauses?

by Paul Alan Levy A comment to my recent blog post about Prestigious Pets, a Dallas pet care company that recently sued two of its customers for negative reviews, suggested an interesting approach for dealing with businesses that use non-disparagement clauses to block customers from posting accurate but unflattering reviews.  Although consumer advocates place hope […]

Second Circuit: First Amendment access to judicial documents applies to civil complaints

The court of appeals this week affirmed a district court's decision to unseal a complaint even though the case settled within two weeks after it was filed. Of note, the Second Circuit held that the public is entitled to access civil complaints not just under the common law right of access but also under the […]

FTC acts against debt-relief operation that targeted financially distressed homeowners and student loan borrowers

The Federal Trade Commission has charged a debt relief operation with falsely representing to financially distressed homeowners and student loan borrowers that it would help get their mortgages and student loans modified. At the FTC’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted the operation. The agency seeks to permanently stop the alleged illegal practices and […]

Working at a meat processing plant is really dangerous

We've previously discussed Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo, the pending Supreme Court case regarding whether workers at an Iowa meat-processing plant can sue as a class over violations of wage-and-hour protections. For a bit of (unfortunately gruesome) context, check out this recent article from Buzzfeed, "America’s Biggest Meat Producer Averages One Amputation Per Month," about OSHA data […]

Court upholds NYC sodium warnings

As NPR reports this morning, a New York state trial court (misleadingly named the "New York State Supreme Court" apparently for historical reasons) upheld the City's requirement that restaurants label high sodium menu items. The story explains, "Mandated salt warnings on menus are intended to make New Yorkers more aware of the link between excessive […]

Are you Teaching or Interested in Teaching Consumer Law?

On May 20-21, the Center for Consumer Law at the University of Houston Law Center will present its bi-annual conference for consumer law professors, adjunct professors, and those interested in teaching consumer law. The conference is especially valuable to anyone interested in teaching consumer law as an adjunct professor. Registration forms, a tentative schedule and hotel […]

FDA’s plan to combat opioid addiction

Opioids include morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. Many opioids are available by prescription to treat pain. Addiction to these drugs is on the rise. (Addiction to the illegal opioid heroin also is on the rise.) Earlier this month, the federal Food and Drug Administration released its plan to reduce abuse of prescription opioids. Read about the […]

Public Citizen: Deny federal funding to schools forcing students into arbitration

by Julie A. Murray, guest blogger Today Public Citizen submitted a citizen petition to the Department of Education asking it to issue a rule that requires colleges to agree, as a condition on receipt of certain federal funding such as Stafford loans and Pell grants, not to include pre-dispute arbitration clauses in enrollment or other […]

CFPB orders Citibank to provide relief to consumers for illegal debt sales and collection practices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday took two separate actions against Citibank for illegal debt sales and debt collection practices. In the first action, the CFPB ordered Citibank to provide nearly $5 million in consumer relief and pay a $3 million penalty for selling credit card debt with inflated interest rates and for failing to […]