Lobbyists scuttle consumer product safety rules

The online journal FairWarning this week reported on how lobbyists from the law firm Bracewell LLP have "specialized in helping product makers thwart rulemaking by the Consumer Product Safety Commission." One after another, industries have turned to Bracewell to fight unwanted federal standards, and they have not been disappointed. Along with the [recreational off-highway vehicle] […]

Anne Fleming: Consumer rights are worthless without enforcement

In The Conversation. Excerpt: Compared with 1962, when President Kennedy put consumer concerns on the national agenda, ordinary Americans now have far more robust rights to safety, to information, to choice and to a fair hearing. But consumer rights do not enforce themselves. Public enforcement requires funding and willing leaders. Private enforcement requires legal devices […]

“Dormant: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Law Enforcement Program in Decline”

That’s the title of a new report from Chris Peterson at the Consumer Federation of America. According to the executive summary: This study analyzes whether the CFPB, under the Trump Administration, is delivering on its statutory law enforcement objectives and stated commitments to take aggressive action in the area of consumer law enforcement, particularly where […]

Bradley Paper: The Consumer Protection Ecosystem

Christopher G. Bradley of Kentucky has written The Consumer Protection Ecosystem: Law, Norms, and Technology. Here is the abstract: Consumer law provokes fierce policy debate on issues from identity theft to online privacy, from arbitration clauses and class action lawsuits to Americans’ accumulation of debt and the unsavory practices sometimes used to collect. Pervasive technology in […]

Blaming the victim for “misusing” dangerous products

Consumer Product Safety Commission commissioner Robert Adler and law prof Andrew Popper have written The Misuse of Product Misuse: Victim Blaming at Its Worst. Here is the abstract: This paper addresses the legal consequences that surface when a consumer uses a product in a manner not specifically intended by that product's designer or manufacturer. If […]

How the New US News Scholarly Impact Ranking Could Hurt Niche Subjects, Like Consumer Law

by Jeff Sovern There's been a lot of talk among law professors about the US News plan to measure faculty scholarly impact in part by citations to faculty scholarship (see here for a blog post citing to commentary).  While for now US News says it will not incorporate the citation rankings into its general law […]

Robocalls, the TCPA, and Professional Plaintiffs

by Jeff Sovern The next edition of our casebook will have a lot more about robocalls.  According to a letter from the attorneys general of all 50 states dated yesterday, robocalls and telemarketing calls are the top source of consumer complaints at many AG's offices.  The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which outlaws some robocalls, also […]