Burritos with a Conscience

Chipotle is causing a stir with an evocative new video: A silent scarecrow working in a foodlike-substance factory grows dismayed by the treatment of animals while Fiona Apple croons a haunting reinterpretion of "Pure Imagination" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Soon, the scarecrow has an epiphany. He strikes out on his own and opens a food stand […]

Nevada Federal Court Strikes Down Egregiously Unfair and Hidden Arbitration Clause

By Paul Bland On Twitter: @PBlandBland       In the wake of recent Supreme Court decisions, forced arbitration clauses are generally enforced unless a corporation sticks something particularly overreaching and unfair in its arbitration clause, or drafts an arbitration clause in an unusually stupid way.  A U.S. district court in Nevada just found that Zappos did both […]

Essay on Supreme Court’s Amex v. Italian Colors decision

In its June 20 decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act requires enforcement of a class-action ban in an arbitration clause even if forcing the plaintiff to aribtrate individually would make it economically impossible for the plaintiff to vindicate its rights under federal law (in […]

9th Circuit: Google violated federal Wiretap Act when it collected unencrypted wi-fi data while capturing “Street View” photographs

In Joffe v. Google, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held this yesterday: In the course of capturing its Street View photographs, Google collected data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Google publicly apologized, but plaintiffs brought suit under federal and state law, including the Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2511. Google argues that its data collection did not violate […]

Guest Post from Kathleen C. Engel: Currents, Continents and Consumer Law

We are grateful to Professor Kathleen C. Engel of Suffolk University Law School for providing this guest post on the International Association of Consumer Law biannual conference: Every two years, consumer law academics from around the world gather to present their research and discuss their countries’ credit markets and consumer protection laws. This year, the International […]

D.C. tax lien program solds liens by mistake even after homeowners paid bills

Read the third and final part of the Washington Post's investigative report on the District of Columbia's tax lien program that has caused poor people to lose their homes. Part three discusses how "tax officials have made hundreds of mistakes in recent years by counting property owners as delinquent even after they paid their taxes, […]

“Visual Gut Punch: Persuasion, Emotion, and the Constitutional Meaning of Graphic Disclosure”

That's the name of this article by Ellen Goodman concerning disclosure requirements and the First Amendment. Here is abstract: The ability of government to “nudge” with information mandates, or merely to inform consumers of risks, is circumscribed by First Amendment interests that have been poorly articulated. New graphic cigarette warning labels supplied courts with the […]