by Brian Wolfman As you may have read, the FDA is beginning to look into possible regulation of caffeine when used as an additive to foods and drinks, including foods and drinks marketed to kids. How about some caffeine with your marshmellows or nuts? Yes, indeed, these foods sometimes have caffeine thrown in. Read this interview […]
Sunday's New York Times has a nice article discussing a recent study prepared by Lee Epstein, who teaches law and political science at the University of Southern California; William M. Landes, an economist at the University of Chicago; and Judge Richard A. Posner, of the federal appeals court in Chicago, who teaches law at the University […]
Brian posted in April on the CFPB's White Paper on payday lending. Payday lenders have fired back, as the American Banker reports here.
Patricia A. McCoy of Connecticut has written Barriers to Foreclosure Prevention During the Financial Crisis, forthcoming in 55 Arizona Law Review. Here's the abstract: The number of modifications to distressed residential loans has been subpar to date compared to the number of foreclosures. This raises concerns about the presence of artificial barriers to loan modifications […]
Many of our readers are interested in using and benefitting from federal and state freedom of information laws. With that in mind, you may want to read the Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Coleman v. DEA, which has a buch of good things to say about two federal FOIA topics: exhaustion of administrative remedies and […]
Today Public Citizen filed objections to the proposed class action settlement in Fraley v. Facebook, which concerns Facebook's practice of using the images of their millions of users, without their knowledge or consent, to sell advertising. Specifically, through Facebook's "Sponsored Stories" program, whenever a user clicks the “Like” button, Facebook may use that interaction to […]
Overdraft fees and abuses have spiraled out of control, snaring millions of consumers while generating billions in profits for banks. A new white paper by the National Consumer Law Center explains the legal avenues the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) can use to restore the standard of “reasonableness” to overdraft fees.
by Jeff Sovern Here (behind a paywall, unfortunately). But here's the part that's not behind the paywall: To avoid unwanted scrutiny from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators, banks need to start thinking about "what is fair, not just what is legal," banking attorneys say. And isn't that one of the reasons we […]
Law professor Howard Erichson says no in his new article "The Problem of Settlement Class Actions." Here is the abstract: This article argues that class actions should never be certified solely for purposes of settlement. Contrary to the widespread “settlement class action” practice that has emerged in recent decades, contrary to current case law permitting […]