Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dep’t of Education sued for allegedly failing to comply with judge’s order to cancel student debt

The Hill reports that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was sued Tuesday for allegedly failing to cancel student debt for people whose for-profit colleges have shut down. Last month a court ruled that the Obama-era debt regulations had to be implemented after more than a year of delays by DeVos. Yesterday, however, a California legal […]

Harvard law students boycott Kirkland & Ellis over forced arbitration of employment disputes and non-disclosure clauses

That's the topic of this article by Karen Sloan. Here's an excerpt: A group of Harvard law students aims to pressure Kirkland & Ellis to drop its use of mandatory arbitration for employees by encouraging their classmates to boycott the firm during the upcoming summer associate recruiting cycle. Organizers of the boycott hope that starving the firm […]

Program to forgive student loans stalls under Betsy DeVos

The New York Times reports today: The students attended institutions with pragmatic names like the Minnesota School of Business and others whose branding evoked ivy-draped buildings and leafy quads, like Corinthian Colleges. Tens of thousands of them say they are alike in one respect: They were victims of fraud, left with useless degrees and crushing […]

Michael Hiltzik on the limits of the puffery defense

Read Wells Fargo says its promises to restore consumer trust were just ‘puffery.’ But now they look like lies by Michael Hiltzik. Here's an excerpt that sets the theme: If you’ve ever wondered how businesses can get away with making transparently false or deceptive claims about themselves or their products — “The Best Tasting Juice in America,” […]

ND Cal issues procedural guidance for class-action settlements

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has issued "Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements." The guidance addresses items to include in a motion for preliminary approval, suggestions for class notice, and attorney fees. Among other things, the guidelines instruct lawyers to file an accounting of the distribution to the class and […]

“Trump Administration Spares Corporate Wrongdoers Billions in Penalties”

The New York Times reports: Across the corporate landscape, the Trump administration has presided over a sharp decline in financial penalties against banks and big companies accused of malfeasance, according to analyses of government data and interviews with more than 60 former and current federal officials. The approach mirrors the administration’s aggressive deregulatory agenda throughout […]

Is there a duty to reconsider a report after its subject claims it is false?

by Paul Alan Levy A recent trial court decision from New York addresses a question about which I have long held a tentative opinion, albeit without having known of any direct precedent to back up my view: When speaker states facts in an online publication that are not subject to defamation liability when made (because […]

Wells Fargo will not finish repaying customers until 2020

"Wells Fargo & Co will not finish paying back the estimated 600,000 customers it wrongly charged for auto insurance until at least 2020, the bank said in a letter to U.S. lawmakers. … U.S. regulators slapped Wells Fargo with a $1 billion penalty in April when it admitted to wrongly forcing drivers into auto insurance […]

Online student-loan refinance company settles FTC charges

Online student loan refinancer SoFi has agreed to stop misrepresenting how much money student loan borrowers have saved or will save from refinancing their loans with the company, in order to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceptively advertised inflated figures for more than two years. In a complaint against Social Finance, Inc. and […]