Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Op-ed in The Hill: Should colleges be immune if they negligently infect students with COVID-19?

by Jeff Sovern Here. Excerpt: As colleges and universities attempt to persuade students that taking classes on campus is not risky, they are lobbying legislators to pass laws insulating schools from liability if people on campus become infected with COVID-19 due to the school’s own negligence. They shouldn’t be able to have it both ways. * * * […]

DC sues predatory online lender for making illegal high-interest loans

DC's Attorney General today filed a lawsuit against Elevate, an online lender, for deceptively marketing high-cost loans carrying interest rates far above the District’s cap on interest rates. According to the complaint, Elevate is not a licensed moneylender in the District but offered two kinds of short-term loan products with interest rates of between 99 […]

Brian Fitzpatrick on “Why Class Actions Are Something both Liberals and Conservatives Can Love”

Law prof Brian Fitzpatrick has written Why Class Actions Are Something both Liberals and Conservatives Can Love, which does a number of interesting things including defend the class-action cy pres doctrine. Here's the abstract:  In Professor Redish’s review of my new book, The Conservative Case for Class Actions, he argues that liberals should oppose the […]

Forbes: Stimulus Proposal: $10,000 In Credit Card Interest Relief During Coronavirus Pandemic

Here, by Shahar Ziv, taking a deep dive into Norm Silber's and my proposal. Excerpt: Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic isn’t the first catastrophe to fuel consumer credit challenges. In a paper, Thriving on Adversity: Disclosing Corporate Mistreatment of Consumers Caught in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Exploring the Consumer Movement's Response to Crisis and Catastrophe, which was […]

“Consumer bureau draws fire for pro-business tilt during crisis”

Read this article by Katy O'Donnell at Politico about the CFPB's activities during the health crisis. Here's an exerpt: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is relaxing rules designed to shield Americans from abuse during the coronavirus crisis, saying the moves are necessary to give businesses flexibility during the pandemic. But with the agency facing an […]

Third Circuit holds, in split decision, that faxes soliciting participation by the recipients in market research surveys in exchange for money are “advertisements” triggering TCPA coverage

Read the Third Circuit's decision in Fischbein v. Olson Research Group. The beginning of the court's majority opinion explains the holding: In this pair of appeals, we are asked to decide whether faxes soliciting participation by the recipients in market research surveysin exchange for monetary payments are advertisements within the meaning of the Telephone Consumer […]

Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearing on proposal to eliminate business liability to consumers for infecting them with Covid-19

by Jeff Sovern The video and prepared testimony is here. If you have time to read only one, I recommend David Vladeck's excellent statement.  Though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has described this terrible proposal as a "red line" for future coronavirus bills, it appears he does not have the full support of his caucus. […]