Stephen J. Ware of Kansas has written The Centrist Case for Enforcing Adhesive Arbitration Agreements, Forthcoming in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review. Here is the abstract: "The Politics of Arbitration Law and Centrist Proposals for Reform", 53 Harvard J. on Legislation 711 (2016), explained how issues surrounding consumer, and other adhesive, arbitration agreements became divisive along predictable political lines […]
Georgetown law prof Adam Levitin has penned this article in American Banker (and a similar piece for Credit Slips). (The American Banker version may be behind a paywall.) State usury laws generally are preempted by the National Bank Act when a loan is held by a national bank. But, as Levitin notes, "[o]nce the note leaves the hands […]
The president of KidsandCars.org, Janette Fennell, explains: "Under the guise of 'reform,' a bill called the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) would add a maze of additional bureaucracy to the life-saving protections. Instead of making it easier to implement protections, the RAA is a recipe for more red tape and additional layers of bureaucracy in a […]
That is a big question — maybe the question — about aggregated litigation. (We would also want to know, among other things, whether aggregated litigation adequately compensates injured people.) Law prof Brian Fitzpatrick attempts to answer that question in his new article aptly titled Do Class Actions Deter Wrongdoing? Here is the abstract: I and other scholars have […]
A week ago, I posted this about the largest jury verdict to date against talcum powder makers — $417 million — awarded to a woman who alleged that Johnson & Johnson's talc-containing baby powder caused her ovarian cancer. You may also be interested in this article by Laura McGinley. The thrust of McGinley's piece is that while results […]
Here, at The Clearinghouse Blog. Excerpt (footnote omitted): Recently, one hears opponents of regulatory reform arguing that there is no need for regulatory reform because banks are making "record profits." The argument is quite puzzling, but we’ve heard it enough to think it deserved a quick response. Just for starters, step back and think […]
by Jeff Sovern Last week, we reported on a Law360 article by Gary Mason finding benefits to class actions. Mayer Brown's Andrew Pincus has responded to the Law360 piece, also on Law360. Here's an excerpt (with footnotes omitted): The critical question is whether class actions generally deliver relief to class members. The answer: They don’t. * […]
by Paul Alan Levy In a decision issued late Thursday morning, DC Superior Court Chief Judge Robert Morin said that he was ready to order DreamHost to comply with the federal prosecutors’ scaled-down search warrant, but enunciated strict procedural restrictions that he said were intended to reflect a balance between allowing the Government to pursue […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. Excerpt: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, still under the leadership of an Obama-appointed director, is expected to scale back its new rule on small-dollar lending as it rushes to complete the regulation * * * * * * The rule is now expected to focus on short-term payday loans that are […]
Before jumping into my first post, I wanted to quickly introduce myself. I'm Mike Landis, Litigation Director for U.S. PIRG. (Obligatory disclaimer: my posts express my individual views only and not those of U.S. PIRG.) I've been a reader of this blog for sometime, and I'm excited to now participate as a contributor. My goal […]