Jeff Sovern

Professor of Law at St. John’s University

Jeff Sovern is a Professor of Law at St. John’s University in New York City where he teaches Civil Procedure, Consumer Protection, Payment Systems, and Introduction to Law. The New York Times has called him “an expert in consumer law,” a statement echoed by the Chicago Tribune, and Mother Jones, while Congressional Quarterly’s Roll Call has described him as a “leading figure in consumer financial law.” He is a Fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. The American Council on Consumer Interests awarded him its Russell A. Dixon Prize in 2002 and its 2010 Applied Consumer Economics Award.

Professor Sovern writes for three overlapping audiences.  For the public, he has published numerous op-eds, including essays in The New York Times (here and here, and in DealBook, herehere and here), USA TodayThe Boston GlobeFortune,  the Christian Science MonitorCNN.com, Politico, the American Banker (herehereherehere, and here), Newsday, The New York Daily News (here, here and here), Bloomberg Law, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (herehereherehere, and here), The Conversation (herehere, and here),  The Hill (hereherehereherehere and here),  CommonwealthThe American Prospect,  Morning Consult, and a variety of blogs. Professor Sovern can be heard on public radio’s Academic Minute and discussing privacy issues during an hour-long interview on the University of California—Irvine’s radio show “Privacy Policy” initially broadcast on July 26, 2006. He has also published 42 letters in The New York Times. He has been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, U.S. News and World Reports, Newsday, Politico, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Daily News, National Law Journal, Consumer Reports, Mother Jones, Washington Examiner, The Oregonian, Law360.com, Bloomberg, NBC.com, The Huffington Post, the ABA Journal eReports, the Associated Press, The Center for Public Integrity, MarketWatch, Forbes, CBS News, and Roll Call.

Professor Sovern also writes for law students. He co-authored a casebook titled Consumer Law: Cases and Materials (5th ed. 2020 West) with Professors Dee Pridgen and Christopher Peterson, with whom he also co-edited Selected Consumer Statutes (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2020 editions). He previously co-authored the third and fourth editions of the casebook. 

Finally, Professor Sovern writes for law professors, judges, lawyers and other academics interested in consumer issues. His scholarly writings have appeared in the Wisconsin Law Review, Fordham Law Review, Washington Law Review, William and Mary Law ReviewOhio State Law Journal (twice), University of California-Irvine Law ReviewMaryland Law ReviewSMU Law Review, The Business Lawyer, Federal Rules Decisions, the University of Pittsburgh Law Review (here and here), Rutgers Law Review (here and here), Missouri Law Review, McGeorge Law Review, DePaul Law Review,  Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review, Advancing the Consumer Interest, the Annual Review of Banking Law, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, Journal of Consumer Affairs (twice), the Journal of Commercial and Consumer Law (twice), and the Encyclopedia of Housing. He is a co-coordinator of the Consumer Law and Policy Blog, which can be read at www.clpblog/citizen.org, and the editor of the Consumer Law Abstracts eJournal for the Social Science Research Network, available at www.ssrn.com.