Category Archives: Uncategorized

CFPB consumer complaint database becomes searchable on state-by-state basis and adds new info about money transfers and credit reporting

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray announced today that the agency has enhanced its Consumer Complaint Database to include state-by-state information. The CFPB also added complaints about money transfers and credit reporting to the database. “This data puts valuable information in the hands of consumers to help them understand what is happening in their […]

Statutory qui tam actions as a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Concepcion

Law professor Janet Alexander has written "To Skin a Cat: Qui Tam Actions as a State Legislative Response to Concepcion." Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s decision in Concepcion is widely regarded as heralding the demise of small-claims class actions whenever contracts of adhesion are involved in the transaction — which means for virtually […]

No opposition to Supreme Court review in Noel Canning recess appointment case

As our readers know, on April 25, 2013, the Solicitor General petitioned the Supreme Court to review the D.C. Circuit's Noel Canning decision, which held that three putative recess appointments made by President Obama to the National Labor Relations Board were, in fact, not proper recess appointments and were thus invalid. Here's how the the […]

CBO: Half of the biggest tax breaks go to the richest 20%

This article by Lori Montgomery explains that, according to a a new Congressional Budget Office report, The 10 largest breaks in the U.S. tax code will save taxpayers more than $900 billion this year, with a little more than half the benefits flowing to the richest 20 percent of households …. Whether that's a good or […]

Helpful opinion limiting Comcast

We've written before about the potential effects on class actions of the Supreme Court's decision this Term in Comcast v. Behrend: see here, here, and here. Yesterday's Ninth Circuit opinion in Levya v. Medaline Industries is a welcome development in the growing body of post-Comcast jurisprudence in the lower courts. The opinion, written by the […]

Are state parens patriae suits “mass actions” under the Class Action Fairness Act?

The Class Action Fairness Act provides jurisdiction in federal district court (originally and by removal) for most minimally diverse class actions and for "mass actions." Under CAFA, a mass action is any civil action (except a civil action within the scope of [28 U.S.C.] section 1711(2)) in which monetary relief claims of 100 or more […]

California gets ready to implement the Affordable Care Act

As states begin implementing the Affordable Care Act, will they offer a range of options at prices preferable to what is available today? Chad Terhune has written this article about what California is doing. Here's an exceprt: After weeks of negotiations, California said it has selected 13 health plans for a new state-run insurance marketplace […]