We have received the following call for papers appearing below. This one looks especially exciting for consumer law scholars: it's at an elite law school and has an impressive roster of organizers. The Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice, its director Ted Mermin, and co-organizers Abbye Atkinson, Kathleen Engel, Rory Van Loo, and […]
In a new article, The Discovery Tax, law prof Brian Fitzpatrick proposes a litigation discovery tax. Generally, the scheme would impose more tax on consumer, civil-rights, and other plaintiffs (because plaintiffs tend to have more to discover from defendants than the other way around). Here is the abstract: The American civil discovery regime is what […]
Reuters is reporting that the CFPB and Santander have reached a settlement regarding allegations that the auto finance lender misled borrowers about the cost of auto loans and related GAP insurance policies. According to the story, Santander has “agreed to pay a fine and strengthen its consumer protections,” but the size of the fine is […]
The Washington Post, addressing the current work of the CFPB and the Department of Education, had editorials yesterday and today pertinent to student loans and higher education: Read "The Trump administration’s scandalous handling of student loans," here. Read "How Betsy DeVos could trigger another financial meltdown," here. The New York Times, addressing proposed changes by […]
Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy group, said consumers cannot rely only on the organic seal from the USDA. The group says that the USDA is failing to protect ethical industry participants and consumers from fraud. Food Safety News has the story, here.
Shmuel I. Becher of Victoria University of Wellington, Yuval Feldman of Bar-Ilan University and Orly Lobel of San Diego have written Poor Consumer(s) Law: The Case of High-Cost Credit and Payday Loans in Legal Applications of Marketing Theory, Jacob Gersen & Joel Steckel, eds., Cambridge University Press (2019, Forthcoming). Here's the abstract: Consumers in general, and […]
by Jeff Sovern NPR has a report, including Seth Frotman's resignation letter, here. The letter deserves to be read.
That's the topic of A New Legal Framework for Employee and Consumer Arbitration Agreements by law prof Imre Szalai. Here's the abstract: If an arbitration clause in an employment or consumer agreement contains a harsh term, such as an abbreviated statute of limitations or a provision requiring arbitration in a distant location, judges will sometimes sever the […]
by Paul Alan Levy A few months ago, I blogged about an important Sixth Circuit ruling on the issue of online anonymity. Signature Management Team v. Doe, 876 F.3d 831 (2017), came close to endorsing the Dendrite approach to deciding whether a defendant who has been sued for allegedly inappropriate behavior should be denied the […]
Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued its quarterly report on U.S. household debt and credit. It found that—for the 16th straight quarter—aggregate household debt balances increased in the second quarter of 2018. Debt from mortgage loans, auto loans, and credit cards increased, while outstanding student loan debt decreased. On the bright […]