Educating for financial literacy

On this blog, we talk sometimes about whether disclosure to consumers as opposed to outright prohibtions or restrictions on business conduct (or doing nothing at all) is the appropriate way, under the circumstances, to protect consumers in the marketplace. In any case, and particularly when disclosure or nothing at all is the choice, consumer protection […]

Federal district judge in Philadelphia preliminarily approves class-action settlement in NFL players concussion-injury litigation

by Brian Wolfman Federal district judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia has preliminarily approved a class-action settlement in a case brought by former NFL football players against the NFL. The players claim that the NFL is responsible for their serious concussion-related injuries (and concussion-related injuries that they will suffer in the future). Judge Brody's 21-page preliminary […]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implements U.S. v. Windsor

In United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013), the Supreme Court held section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional as a violation of equal protection and due process principles. Section 3 said that for the purpose of interpreting federal law, "marriage" must be construed as the legal union of one man […]

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau kicks off its next cycle of “honors” lawyer hiring

The CFPB has started hiring for its next class of Louis D. Brandeis Honors lawyers, who will begin work in fall 2015. Here's how the agency describes the positions: The Louis D. Brandeis program is a two-year fellowship designed to provide exceptional law students and recent graduates with early, substantive opportunities to use and develop their […]

EPIC complains to FTC about Facebook’s “emotional contagion” study

The June 17 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) included an article on an “emotional contagion” study conducted for Facebook. For the study, researchers randomly chose more than 680,000 Facebook users and altered their news feeds so that some saw fewer positive posts and others saw fewer negative posts. […]

Michelle Boardman Reviews Margaret Radin’s Boilerplate

Michelle Boardman of George Mason has written Consent and Sensibility: A Review of Margaret Jane Radin's Book, 'Boilerplate: The Fine Print, Vanishing Rights, and the Rule of Law,' 127 Harvard Law Review  1967 (2014).  Here is the abstract: In this book, Professor Margaret Radin offers a fresh look at the fit between boilerplate contracts and […]