As the unemployment rate has dropped considerably to below 5% from double that during the Great Recession, another, seemingly paradoxical, trend has continued: a drop in adult male workforce participation, which was nearly 100% in the 1960s and is below 90% today. Read this NPR story on the topic or listen to it by clicking on the […]
by Paul Alan Levy This blog has carried a number of articles recently about the bizarre story of “Patel v. Chan” a case in which a pro se lawsuit, seeking relief for defamation based on comments posted on several interactive consumer review sites, was filed in Baltimore without the signatures of any real people. The […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday that drivers for the alt-cab company Uber have to arbitrate claims against the company. The decision means that those drivers are out of court on most of their claims, but also that they cannot proceed on a classwide basis. The case is Mohamed v. Uber […]
The fairness and effectiveness of class litigation has been questioned by courts in recent years. In Inside the Agency Class Action law profs Michael Sant'Ambrogio and Adam Zimmerman argue that aggregation techniques criticized by courts have been used fairly and effectively in agency class actions (such as EEOC class actions). Here is the abstract: Federal agencies in […]
by Paul Alan Levy I blogged here last month about a peculiar pro se lawsuit and consent order which, in retrospect, has all the hallmarks of a sloppy effort by some blackhat SEO outfit trying to help a dentai client, Mitul Patel, rid the Internet of pesky consumer criticisms. As the Streisand Effect engulfed his […]
As widely reported over the last two weeks, EpiPen, which stops potentially fatal allergic reactions by injecting a precise dose of epinephrine, now costs about $600 for a two-pack, up from roughly $100 when Mylan acquired EpiPen in 2007. The Week summarizes the story in a piece called "The EpiPen uproar, explained," available here. Today, […]
Law profs Craig Konnoth and Seth Kreimer have written Spelling Out Spokeo. Here is the abstract: For almost five decades, the injury-in-fact requirement has been a mainstay of Article III standing doctrine. Critics have attacked the requirement as incoherent and unduly malleable. But the Supreme Court has continued to announce “injury in fact” as the bedrock […]
Here. The staffer, Ronald L. Rubin, has also served as senior counsel to the House Financial Services Committee and as a partner at a big law firm. Excerpts: Nobody should be charged, harassed, or sued for a debt they've already paid or for someone else's debt. However, the CFPB's proposed solution is a hopelessly complex […]
John M. Newman of Memphis has written The Myth of Free. Here's the abstract: Myths matter. This Article is the first to squarely confront a powerful myth that pervades modern economic, technological, and legal discourse: the Myth of Free. The prevailing view is that consumers capture massive welfare surplus from an ever-rising flood of innovative […]
Irvine lawyer Greg Labate is quoted in the Orange County Register: Labate advises clients to get their employees to sign arbitration agreements, waiving their right to sue in court, and sending disputes to privately hired arbitrators. * * * “People question whether arbitration tends to favor employers,” Labate told a [Professionals in Human Resources Association] […]