by Jeff Sovern Earlier this week, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on consumer arbitration clauses. The consumer side was ably represented by Paul Bland, Myriam Gilles, and Remington Gregg. I want to say something about the arguments put forth at the hearing by Senator Toomey and Professor Todd Zywicki. Professor Toomey argued that […]
Amy J. Schmitz of Ohio State has written Will the United States Remain Exceptional in Enforcing Predispute Arbitration Clauses in Consumer Contexts? MARC. Revista de Medios Alternativos de Resolución de Conflictos, no 2, 34-39 (August 2021) at Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Here’s the abstract: American exceptionalism” has been used to reference the […]
by Jeff Sovern Bloomberg reports that the House will vote this month on the FAIR Act, a bill to bar arbitration clauses in consumer and employment contracts. The House last passed a similar bill in 2019. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on arbitration Tuesday. The stumbling block to congressional action remains the […]
by Paul Alan Levy This is a sad tale of hypocrisy on the part of a group whose litigation over the past eighty-five years has set many of our most important First Amendment precedents. But over the past four to five years, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, popularly known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, […]
FTC Takes Action Against Company Formerly Known as Weight Watchers for Illegally Collecting Kids’ Sensitive Health Data – here, and FTC Kicks Off National Consumer Protection Week this Sunday – here.
A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report highlights "the complicated and burdensome nature of the medical billing system in the United States." The report reveals that the U.S. healthcare system is supported by a billing, payments, collections, and credit reporting infrastructure where mistakes are common, and where patients often have difficulty getting these errors corrected […]
On March 9, as part of National Consumer Protection Week, the Federal Trade Commission and National Student Employment Association are presenting a free webinar called "What to Know About College Students, Cryptocurrencies, and Scams." Here is the description: You’ve probably heard of cryptocurrency, but do you know how it works? This webinar will go over […]
New Mexico’s governor has signed a bill reforming predatory lending practices by lowering the cap on small loan interest rates from 175% to 36%. The governor’s press release is here.
Both courtesy of Kathleen Engel: Consumer protection law in the 21st century: Moving to a new Pangaea or a continental drift? 5th Bi-Annual UPICLC University of Pretoria International Consumer Protection Law Conference 15-17 September 2022 Call for Papers The International Review of Financial Consumers. The IRFC, established in 2016 by the International Academy of Financial Consumers […]
So reports George Simons at Bloomberg Law. Excerpt: California, Arizona, and Minnesota are good examples of states attempting to increase access to justice while charging defendants enormous filing fees. These fees are charged for all types of civil lawsuits, but are particularly relevant to debt lawsuits where defendants are being sued because, presumably, they don’t […]