Internet Providers Have Standing to Protect Their Users’ Anonymity

by Paul Alan Levy This past spring, Twitter garnered significant attention, and widespread praise, for a lawsuit it brought against the Trump Administration this past spring to block enforcement of an administrative summons seeking to identify the owners of a Twitter account purporting to reflect criticisms by current employees in Customs and Border Control. The […]

“The Era of Tort Lawsuits Is Waning”

The Wall Street Journal, reporting on data compiled by the National Center for State Courts, reports that State restrictions, increasing cost, and a long campaign by businesses have discouraged plaintiffs from filing tort suits. Tort cases (primarily auto, medical malpractice, and product liability cases) declined from 16% of civil filings in state courts in 1993 […]

House Reported to Vote to Consider Blocking CFPB Arb Rule on Party Line Vote

by Jeff Sovern This is based on Fred O. Williams's story at CreditCards.com.  The vote was 229 to 184, though he seems to indicate that this was the final vote. I think it was just on the vote to consider the bill.  Williams's article, titled DIY credit card arbitration: You may be able to opt out, […]

Compass Point Estimates 60% Chance of Congress Using CRA to Block CFPB Arb Rule

From Politico's Morning Money newsletter: Compass Point analyst Isaac Boltansky on what’s next — "We now peg the odds of the mandatory arbitration rule being reversed through the [Congressional Review Act] at 60 percent. The House will easily clear the measure, but the whip count in the Senate is still fluid at this juncture and […]

My Morning Consult Op-Ed: Financial Choice Act Prioritizes Banks Over Consumers

by Jeff Sovern Here.  Excerpt: Remember how back in 2008, the Bush administration shepherded a $700 billion bank bailout through Congress? Well, the House of Representatives voted last month to rescue banks yet again. And if its bill, the Financial Choice Act, becomes law, ordinary Americans may pay a bigger price than they did for […]

House Vote on CRA Resolution on CFPB Arbitration Rule Could Come Tuesday

by Jeff Sovern The House Rules Committee is meeting today at 5:00 to consider granting a rule for the House to take up H. J. Res. 111, under which the House would vote to block the CFPB arbitration rule from taking effect.  I hear the House could vote on the resolution itself tomorrow.

House Financial Services Committe Minority Staff Issues Report on CFPB

The report is titled THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU IN PERSPECTIVE. Quoting now from the findings listed in the Executive Summary: Before the Consumer Bureau was created, financial regulators prioritized the profits of Wall Street firms at the expense of consumers’ financial well-being on Main Street. Previously, Federal prudential regulators were tasked with dual, and […]

Chamber of Commerce Threatens to Use CRA Vote on CFPB Arbitration in Grading Legislators

by Jeff Sovern The Chamber's letter to House members is here. Here is the relevant text (bolding in original):  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ("Chamber") urges you to support H.J. Res. 111, which would undo a rule left over by the Obama Administration and recently finalized by an out of control Consumer Financial Protection Bureau […]