Category Archives: Uncategorized

Student-loan collection

Our readers may be interested in Collection of Student Loans: A Critical Examination by law professor Doug Rendelman and lawyer Scott Weingart. Here is the abstract: Although the collection of college student loans centers this article, some background precedes its main topic. It begins by defining and distinguishing federal and private student loans. Next is […]

Octane Fitness: Supreme Court rejects bad faith and clear and convincing evidence requirements for fees in patent cases

by Paul Alan Levy     In a decision issued this morning in Octane Fitness v. Icon Health and Fitness, the Supreme Court held that attorney fee awards in patent cases depend on an assessment of the totality of the circumstances, and that either the substantive weakness of the losing party's litigating position (including both facts and […]

Ninth Circuit reverses denial of class certification in age discrimination case

by Jocelyn Larkin, guest blogger The Ninth Circuit issued a favorable opinion yesterday in Stockwell v. City and County of San Francisco, No. 12-15070, reversing the denial of class certification in a disparate impact age discrimination class action.  The opinion was written by Judge Marsha Berzon, and joined by Judges Fisher and Wallace.  The decision […]

Why the FDA is moving to expand its tobacco-control authority to e-cigarettes and other non-traditional products

By now, you may have read about the FDA's proposed regulations that would, if finalized, extend the agency's tobacco-control authority to additional, non-traditional tobacco-related products (such as e-cigarettes). By legitimizing some of these products, the FDA may boost the industries that sell them. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg wrote this short blog post explaining why the agency […]

The Federal Arbitration Act as Procedural Reform

That's the name of this article by law professor Hiro Aragaki. Here's the abstract: Recent, game-changing Supreme Court decisions on arbitration such as American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant, 133 S. Ct. 2304 (2013), and AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), have had far reaching implications for civil procedure and the future […]

Why are you stuck with [fill in name of your cable company, whom you probably hate]?

What happened to good ol' American free-market competition when it comes to cable and internet service? Why do the Brits have choices while most Americans are stuck with our single local provider, which accordingly has little incentive to improve price or service? In an illuminating podcast from earlier this month, including interviews with key U.S. […]

The Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point

Daniel Colbert has published Operation Choke Point: Using an Old Tool in a New Way in the American Criminal Law Review. The piece discusses a program of the U.S. Department of Justice aimed, among other things, at stopping fraud by on-line payday lenders. Here's the piece: By Daniel Colbert, ACLR Featured Blogger            Prosecuting financial […]