In recent years, Supreme Court decisions have narrowed the circumstances in which class actions can be maintained under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. In "Walking the Class Action Maze: Toward a More Functional Rule 23," law professor Robert Bone says that because these Supreme Court decisions are interpretations of the federal rule, the rule […]
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This morning, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued two opinions addressing whether there remain any circumstances in which an arbitration agreement that bans class actions can still be challenged after the Supreme Court's decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. The SJC strongly aligned itself with the view that Concepcion does not make class […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued this study on bank and credit union overdraft practices. As explained in the agency's press release, the study raises concerns about whether the overdraft costs on consumer checking accounts can be anticipated and avoided. The report shows big differences across financial institutions when it comes to overdraft coverage […]
The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, though only in its infancy, is already supplying lawyers to law firms that represent the financial services industry, as described in this article by Jenna Greene. Greene says that the law firm Buckley Sandler, whose home page describes itself as "Legal Counsel to the Financial Services Industry," "nabbed Benjamin […]
In Oxford Health Plans v. Sutter, the Supreme Court today upheld an arbitrator's decision that a particular arbitration clause authorized class arbitration. Justice Kagan wrote the main opinion, which was unanimous. The standard of review of arbitrators' decisions under the Federal Arbitration Act is highly deferential. So "the sole question for us," Justice Kagan explained, […]
In a rare win for a plaintiff in a Supreme Court case involving class actions and arbitration, the Court ruled today in Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter that an arbitrator's decision to allow class rather than individual arbitration had to be accepted by the courts. What was decisive in the case was that the plaintiff […]
Although I am not able to find the announcement or the rule on the Bureau's website, Mondaq is reporting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a rule to implement Dodd-Frank's ban on mandatory arbitration clauses in mortgage contracts. The rule is available here. The rule implements changes required by Section 1414 of the […]
Read Senator Whitehouse's essay. Here's the intro: In recent years corporations have racked up significant victories before the U.S. Supreme Court — a corporate windfall that has come at the expense of Americans who are unable to win redress for their injuries. These decisions have also worked an often overlooked harm: They have made it […]
by Brian Wolfman As many of our readers know, the Dodd-Frank financial reform law authorizes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to regulate consumer arbitration. Under that law, the CFPB must conduct a study of consumer arbitration and then issue a report to Congress before it does anything to regulate pre-dispute aribtration clauses in consumer finance […]
Here. And an FTC infographic below: