Coercive class action bans

Law professor Keith Hylton has written "The Economics of Class Actions and Class Action Waivers." Here is the abstract: Class action litigation has generated a series of recent Supreme Court decisions imposing greater federal court supervision over the prosecution of collective injury claims. This group of cases raises the question whether class action waivers should […]

Private pre-dispute arbitration clauses and government enforcement of civil rights and consumer protection laws

by Paul Bland Here is a terrific amicus brief written by Professor Walker of Drake University and his co-counsel. As some of you may know, in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court held in EEOC v. Waffle House that even if employees of a company had signed an arbitration clause, that the federal agency could still pursue […]

Paper on the “Show Me the Note” Defense

Bradley T. Borden and David J. Reiss, both of the Brooklyn faculty, and William KeAupuni Akina, a student at the school, have written Show Me the Note!, Westlaw Journal Bank & Lender Liability (June 3, 2013).  Here's the abstract: News outlets and foreclosure defense blogs have focused attention on the defense commonly referred to as […]

Molly Rose Goodman on Toxic Titles and Title Insurance

Kathleen Engel of Suffolk has forwarded an article one of her students, Molly Rose Goodman,  wrote for the Real Estate Law Journal.  The piece is titled The Buck Stops Here: Toxic Titles and Title Insurance, and the cite is 42 Real Est. L. J. 5 (2013).  Here's the abstract: By failing to properly transfer ownership of loans […]

Amy Schmitz on Gender and Consumer Contracts

Amy Schmitz of Colorado has written Sex Matters: Considering Gender in Consumer Contracts, 19 Cardozo Journal of Law & Gender 437 (2013). Here's the abstract:   We hear about the so-called “War on Women” and persisting salary gaps between men and women in the popular media, but contracts scholars and policymakers rarely discuss gender. Instead, […]

Securities and Exchange Commission to begin demanding admissions of guilt in some settlements

by Brian Wolfman This June 21 article by James Stewart explains that In a departure from long-established practice, the recently confirmed chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, said this week that defendants would no longer be allowed to settle some cases while “neither admitting nor denying” wrongdoing. “In the interest of […]

The high cost of maternity care

Consumers in this country pay more for health care than in other developed countries. And maternity care provides a dramatic example, as explained in this article by Elisabeth Rosenthal. Check out this chart from Rosenthal's article: Here's an excerpt: [T]hough maternity care costs far less in other developed countries than it does in the United […]

American Banker: Truth in Lending Litigation Slows But Bankers Remain Wary

by Jeff Sovern Here (behind paywall).  Excerpt:   Court decisions tied to the 1968 law fell 18% year over year during a12-month period that ended May 31, to 1,037, data from the National ConsumerLaw Center shows. That number is down 38% from the peak two years earlier. The pace of new litigation is also slowing. […]

Will the Senate Compromise on the Cordray Confirmation?

by Jeff Sovern From time to time, reports appear that Senator Portman is trying to broker a compromise that would permit confirmation of Richard Cordray as CFPB director.  And some, including Ballard Spahr's Alan Kaplinsky, have predicted that a compromise will be eventually be reached.  I don't have any inside information–it's not as if legislators […]

Senate Adjourns Without Passing Student Loan Bill So Rates Will Increase Monday

Congress could still act after Monday to reduce rates retroactively, however.  The Wall Street Journal has more here.  An excerpt: As of Thursday afternoon, Democratic backers of the one-year freeze of current rates said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) had promised there would be a vote on July 10 on their bill. An aide […]