A recent Public Citizen report maintains that the idea of the "no-injury" class action is a fiction. After all, wrongful corporate conduct may be harmful to consumers, and worthy of deterrence, even when it is difficult for many individuals to quantify the particular harms to them. Many state and federal consumer-protection laws authorize consumers to sue […]
Here, complete with a white paper from Mark Budnitz. Here are the first four paragraphs of that white paper: As the popularity of mobile payments grows, it becomes increasingly important to understand the legal framework in which these transactions take place. Consumers need to know their rights and responsibilities. They need to be alert to […]
Do expiration (or "sell by") dates on packaged/bottled foods protect consumers' health and safety, or do they just encourage consumers to throw out perfectly good food (and then buy more)? Or is the answer somewhere in between? In September 2013, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic published The Dating […]
The issue has been getting attention recently and is the subject of The Case for Tipping and Unrestricted Tip-Pooling by law profs Samuel Estreicher and Jonathan Remy Nash. Here is the abstract: Going against the well-established tipping norm in the United States, a growing number of restaurant owners are moving to ban tipping, and instead raise prices, […]
Alexander Ash has written It’s Your Money and We Want It Now: Regulation of the Structured Settlement Factoring Industry in the Era of Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Here is the abstract: Calls for reform in the structured settlement factoring industry have recently grown louder across the nation. However, those calls ring hollow and […]
The Post reported last week: Three of the biggest freight railroads operating in the U.S. have told the government they won’t meet a 2018 deadline to start using safety technology intended to prevent accidents like the deadly derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia last May. Several other railroads are reporting the same. The technology […]
From FiveThirtyEight, a fascinating look at the nation's unemployment system, here. Comparing the health of state unemployment systems now against their positions prior to the 2008 financial collapse, the article argues that these systems have not recovered adequately to meet the needs of the next recession. What will that mean? "[U]nderfunded unemployment systems can have […]
Gary Neustadter, of Santa Clara University School of Law, recently published an interesting empirical look at how similar legal proceedings are dealt with at the trial court level. “Randomly Distributed Trial Court Justice: A Case Study and Siren from the Consumer Bankruptcy World,” examines how virtually identical legal claims can result in randomly distributed justice. […]
The Post explains: The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a key part of President Obama’s ambitious proposal to limit carbon emissions and reduce global warming while the plan is challenged. . . . The court’s decision does not address the merits of the challenge but indicates justices think the states have raised serious questions. The […]
The Wall Street Journal reports: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, preparing to roll out rulesaimed at reining in high-interest payday loans, is jawboning banks and credit unions to provide better alternatives for borrowers in need of small, short-term loans. Richard Cordray, director of the watchdog agency, said it is discussing ways to make it easier for […]