Category Archives: Uncategorized

Student debt relief from a civil-rights perspective

Law profs Dalie Jimenez and Jonathan Glater have written Student Debt is a Civil Rights Issue: The Case for Debt Relief and Higher Education Reform for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Here is the abstract:  For an ever-growing number of students aspiring to higher education, borrowing is essential. Yet the burdens of indebtedness […]

CFPB: Five ways to recognize a social-security scam

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published Five ways to recognize a Social Security scam. Last summer, the agency warned in this short memo about the increasing number of scams aimed at getting social-security numbers or benefits. It explained how to identify scams (as opposed to legit inquiries from the Social Security Administration) and how consumers […]

Industry knows damn well that forced arbitration is unfair

Isn't that why the HR director at Wells Fargo, in explaining why his company was getting rid of forced arbitration of sexual-harassment claims, observed that "Wells Fargo has zero tolerance for sexual harassment"? So, for really bad stuff, it's only fair to let people go to court. Is that it? Does the company tolerate just […]

Arbitration: Be Careful What You Wish For

It's no secret that many companies use arbitration agreements with class-action bans not because they want to arbitrate claims, but because they want to avoid claims altogether. When large numbers of consumers or employees share a claim and can't bring a class action, defendants can usually expect that few if any will come forward and […]

Trump looks to gut student-loan forgiveness programs

I was surprised to see this headline given Trump's reverence for education and that he once headed a university himself. But it appears to be true. In Trump looks to kill student loan forgiveness program, Annie Nova explains that  As student debt continues to climb, President Donald Trump on Monday released a budget for 2021 […]

D.C. Circuit holds that members of Congress lack standing to sue over Trump’s (alleged) Emoluments Clause violations

The 12-page decision, by a per curiam panel composed of Judges Henderson, Tatel, and Griffith, is here. The decision includes this paragraph: The Members [of Congress] can, and likely will, continue to use their weighty voices to make their case to the American people, their colleagues in the Congress and the President himself, all of […]

Teaching Consumer Law Rescheduled

It is with deep regret and disappointment we must inform you that due to events beyond our control, the May 29-30, 2020 Teaching Consumer Law Conference has been cancelled. It has been rescheduled for May 21-22, 2021. We strongly believe that the Conference provides a unique experience for those teaching or interested in teaching consumer […]

Are chain pharmacies repeating the errors that caused Wells Fargo to open unauthorized bank accounts?

by Jeff Sovern A recent NY Times article, Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk, reminded me of how the Wells Fargo quotas drove Wells employees to open unauthorized accounts.  There's a lot in the article, but here are two excerpts: [CVS] Staff members were supposed to persuade 65 percent of patients picking […]