Category Archives: Uncategorized

Berkeley Law Seeks Executive Director for Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice

Berkeley Law seeks applications for the full-time position of Executive Director (Academic Coordinator II) for the Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice (CLEJ) with an anticipated start date of December 1, 2020. This is a two-year, full-time (100%) appointment, subject to renewal. This position is open until filled. For more information about the position, […]

Virginia Search Warrant Seeking to Identify Peaceful Protestors

by Paul Alan Levy Yesterday, we filed a motion to quash a search warrant seeking to obtain from Facebook the confidential files of an activist group that has been protesting the refusal of Virginia authorities to step in to protect the health of immigration detainees in a private prison in Farmville, Virginia.  The motion builds […]

Steiger Consumer Law Fellowships that pays law students $6,000 for summer work now accepting applications

Here's the announcement: In its seventeenth year, the Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project offers paid summer clerkships for law students to work on consumer protection issues in the offices of State Attorneys General across the country. The Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project provides law students the extraordinary opportunity to work in the consumer protection departments […]

Instead of Liability Waivers, Reduce the Spread of Covid-19

by Jeff Sovern My latest Bloomberg Law Insight piece. Excerpt: No doubt the same people who want to free businesses of accountability for sickening people would oppose the outlawing of Covid-19 liability waivers as an infringement on liberty. But practically no one reads contracts—not even consumer law professors. And if consumers do read them, they probably […]

FDA warns companies to stop misleading consumers by promoting herbal products to treat Covid-19

The FDA has issued warning letters to two companies — Griffo Botanicals and Prairie Dawn Herbs — telling them to stop promoting non-FDA-approved herbal products "to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19."  These letters include this language: FDA is advising consumers not to purchase or use certain products that have not been approved, cleared, […]

AC Transit Counsel Goes from Bad to Worse

by Paul  Alan Levy Last week I explained the many fallacies in a contention by Jill Sprague, General Counsel of the Alameda-Contra Costa County Transit District, that Victoria Fierce, a candidate for election to the ACT Transit Board of Directors, has unlawfully posted photographs to her campaign web site that included busses and a route […]

Bay Area Transit District Attacks Candidate For Showing Its Logo

by Paul  Alan  Levy Much like the case of Jeremy Whittaker a few years ago, a demand letter from the general counsel of an elective transit district in the East Bay seeks to interfere with the political campaign of a candidate seeking to replace the lawyer’s bosses. The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District has threatened Victoria […]

Eleventh Circuit holds that class-action “service” or “incentive” awards for named plaintiffs are a no-no

Yesterday, in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, the Eleventh Circuit held that so-called "incentive" or "service" awards to named class-action plaintiffs are unlawful. That is, in a class-action settlement, a named plaintiff may not be paid extra money (over and above money paid to all class members) as reimbursement/compensation for her efforts on behalf of the […]

Timothy D. Lytton’s Op-ed in The Conversation: Business liability shield is holding up another coronavirus bailout – . . . why immunity is unnecessary and even harmful

Here. Excerpt: As I document in my 2019 book, “Outbreak: Foodborne Illness and the Struggle for Food Safety,” a handful of high-profile lawsuits against food companies have encouraged businesses at every link along the supply chain to improve their safety practices. That’s what happened after lawsuits against Jack in the Box over contaminated hamburgers in 1993 and Dole over E. […]

Why is Ridgeback Biotherapeutics Trying to Suppress Adverse Opinions by Issuing Frivolous Defamation Threats?

Over the past several months, I have posted a number of articles about the campaign of intimidating copyright demand letters from Mathew Higbee, who tries to extract money from individuals, nonprofits and small businesses by threatening to file frivolous copyright lawsuits. This is the first in what I expect will be series of articles about […]