In 2018, C.S., a seven-year old with various food allergies, attended a family friend’s birthday party. The friend’s parent had purchased a cupcake at Whole Foods that had been labeled “vegan.” But that cupcake was not actually vegan, C.S.’s parents now allege, and C.S. suffered an allergic reaction, which has now led to “a number […]
David Horton of California, Davis has written Forced Robot Arbitration, forthcoming in 109 Cornell Law Review (2023). Here’s the abstract: Recently, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked interest in a topic that sounds like science fiction: robot judges. Researchers have harnessed AI to build programs that can predict the outcome of legal disputes. Some […]
One of the consumer law professors I most admire, Lauren Willis, appears on today’s episode of one of my favorite podcasts, the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, discussing her important work on performance-based regulation. You can listen to it here.
The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final consent order against The Bountiful Company for abusing a feature of Amazon.com to deceive consumers into thinking that its newly introduced supplements had more product ratings and reviews, higher average ratings, and “#1 Best Seller” and “Amazon’s Choice” badges. Details, including a link to the complaint, are […]
A growing number of state legislatures are considering bans on cosmetics and other consumer products that contain a group of synthetic, potentially harmful chemicals known as PFAS. AP has the story, here.
I’m finally getting around to listening to the House Financial Services Committee’s hearing March 9, 2023 on the CFPB. One of the witnesses at the hearing was Devin Watkins, an attorney at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. Mr. Watkins’ testimony includes the following: The Seventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution mandates that “In Suits at […]
Joann Needleman and Manny Newburger have an essay in the American Banker, In the fight over the CFPB, everyone could end up a loser. It’s behind a paywall but accessible on Lexis. You can read more about Needleman and Newburger at their linked bios. They write: Opponents of the CFPB risk throwing out the good with […]
Can consumers bring a Lanham Act claim for false advertising against a company that deceived them? In an opinion issued yesterday, the Sixth Circuit said no. Applying the Supreme Court’s 2014 Lexmark decision, the court held that only those who suffer an injury to a commercial interest are within the zone of interest of the […]
The public comment period closed yesterday on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule to create a public registry for terms and conditions in non-negotiable nonbank contracts that limit consumer rights and protections. The proposal recognized a certain powerlessness of consumers who are forced to surrender critical rights when seeking out essential financial products. Part […]
Gregory M. Dickinson of St. Thomas has written Privately Policing Dark Patterns, 57 Ga. L. Rev. (2023 Forthcoming). Here is the abstract: Lawmakers around the country are crafting new laws to target “dark patterns”—user interface designs that trick or coerce users into enabling cell phone location tracking, sharing browsing data, initiating automatic billing, or making […]