I’ve previously posted about consumer lawsuits across the country challenging various aspects of the Multiple Listing Service under unfair competition and antitrust laws. Today, the National Association of Realtors announced it had agreed to a global settlement of these cases. In addition to a payment of $418 million in damages, Realtors have agreed to get […]
The Michigan Senate yesterday passed bills to cap interest rates on quick-cash loans at 36% annually. Currently, Michigan allows short-term, high-interest cash advance loans that come due on the borrower’s next payday, with an annual interest rate of up to 391%. Supporters say that the bills, if signed into law, would protect people from getting […]
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice back changes to copyright rules that would give consumers’ more legal room to either repair products themselves or hire independent businesses to fix them. In a press release, the FTC announced that the agencies issued a joint comment in response to the U.S. Copyright Office’s rulemaking […]
We received the following announcement: The National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) is pleased to announce its first annual Summer Consumer Law Fellowship Project. The Fellowship will pay a $5,000 stipend to at least five (5) students who spend the summer months working for a NACA member non-profit, legal-aid, or private consumer law firm on […]
Here’s the announcement: Teaching Consumer Law Conference “Teaching Consumer Law in a Changing Environment” Santa Fe, New Mexico May 17-18, 2024 Preceded by the Law School Consumer Clinic Conference on May 16 The Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice at the UC Berkeley School of Law and The Center for Consumer Law […]
On Monday night, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem posted an….unusual video on X (nee Twitter)— a nearly five-minute post extolling the work done by cosmetic dentists at Smile Texas. The tone and content of the video struck many as an advertisement, but nowhere in the post was there an indication it was an ad or […]
I think this is great. Here’s the announcement: The National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) is pleased to announce its first annual 2-year Consumer Law Fellowship. For the first fellowship we are offering, NACA is partnering with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA). The program is designed to encourage new law school graduates to pursue a […]
The National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law School has posted a report and online resource that ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia on their adoption of policies promoting fairness in consumer debt litigation. The report notes that debt-collection lawsuits inundate courts across the country. Because many suits go unanswered, […]
Andrea Chandrasekher of UC-Davis has a history of writing important papers on important subjects. She has done so again, with The “Good” Starbucks: Consumer Redlining in Large American Chain Stores. Here’s the abstract: Racial discrimination in the retail realm has been well-documented in the academic literature. However, past studies have focused on retail redlining, a discriminatory […]
An Alabama lawyer recently sought my help responding to your February 9, 2024 demand letter to Foggy Bottom Farms, complaining about alleged infringement of Prepared Food Photos’ copyright in a photo of vegetable. Over the past several years, I have seen many demand letters from your client based on that photo (for example, your client’s […]