Category Archives: Uncategorized

In class settlement, Ninth Circuit holds that attorney fees must be tied to redemption value of coupons

In In Re HP Inkjet Printers, the Ninth Circuit yesterday reversed the district court’s orders granting final approval to a class-action settlement between Hewlett-Packard Company and a nationwide class of consumers who purchased certain HP inkjet printers, and awarding attorneys’ fees. Here is the summary issued by the court: The panel held that the attorneys’ […]

Judgment reinstated against Wells Fargo in overdraft fee case

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California this week reinstated a $203 million judgment against Wells Fargo for slapping hefty overdraft fees on consumers by manipulating the order in which their charges posted to their accounts in order to maximize the number of transactions that would be subject to overdraft penalties. The […]

Expanded FTC protection for kids’ information online to go into effect July 1

As the Blog of the Legal Times reported, the FTC sent letters to almost 100 companies letting them know about revisions to the regulations implementing the Childen's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a statute that regulates the collection of information from minors under 13 online. The new rules include an expansion of the types of […]

Debt collection industry reform efforts in California

As this LA Times story explains, In a lawsuit that echoes the worst abuses of the foreclosure crisis, [California's] top law enforcement official is suing the nation's largest bank, accusing it of using aggressive and illegal tactics to collect credit card debt from thousands of California consumers. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris on Thursday accused […]

More on the ticket industry and consumer protection

[Ed. note: Last week, we featured a guest post on ticket industry abuses, which mentioned a group called "Fan Freedom" and StubHub's support for the group. We now post this response from Ted Mermin.] by Ted Mermin [guest post] Thank you for the guest post on Ticketmaster's anti-competitive practices.  Anyone who has tried to get a […]

Watch Senator Franken talk about his plan for a government panel to rate financial instruments

As this CNN piece explains Credit agencies that rate Wall Street's big banks were blamed for playing a pivotal role in the financial meltdown, but those agencies are still being paid for their work by the very banks they rate. That was one of the root causes of the financial crisis of 2008, according to a […]

Supreme Court decides Dan’s City v. Pelkey preemption case in favor of the injured plaintiff

A victory for a plaintiff! The Supreme Court has decided Dans City v Pelkey opinion, unanimously affirming the no-preemption ruling of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Here's the begininng of Justice Ginsburg's opinion, which sums things up nicely: This case concerns the preemptive scope of a provision of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 […]