Yehuda Adar of the University of Haifa and Shmuel I. Becher of the Victoria University of Wellington have written Taking Boilerplate Seriously: Tackling Exploitation in Consumer Contracts. Here's the abstract: This Article calls for a conceptual shift toward the scrutiny of exploitative consumer standard form contracts. Current approaches to consumer standard form contracts assume that imbalanced […]
The National Consumer Law Center issued a report on the impact of debt-collection during the pandemic and state laws that help, or harm, struggling families. From NCLC's press release: As millions of families suffer job loss or struggle to pay bills during COVID-19, states have an important role in protecting them from seizure of essential […]
Berkeley Law seeks applications for the full-time position of Executive Director (Academic Coordinator II) for the Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice (CLEJ) with an anticipated start date of December 1, 2020. This is a two-year, full-time (100%) appointment, subject to renewal. This position is open until filled. For more information about the position, […]
We received the following CFP: Texas A&M Journal of Property Law: Spring Symposium Proposal Purpose: The Texas A&M Journal of Property Law is currently seeking speakers and papers for its 2021 virtual Spring Symposium. The purpose of the Symposium is to create a vibrant and useful forum for consumer law scholars, practitioners, and interested students […]
Matthew A. Bruckner of Howard has written The Forgotten Stewards of Higher Education Quality, 11 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 1 – 41 (2020). Here's the abstract: A “triad” of regulators is supposed to ensure that student loan borrowers are not harmed by low-value institutions of higher education, including exploitative profiteers operating fly-by-night or predatory institutions of […]
by Paul Alan Levy Yesterday, we filed a motion to quash a search warrant seeking to obtain from Facebook the confidential files of an activist group that has been protesting the refusal of Virginia authorities to step in to protect the health of immigration detainees in a private prison in Farmville, Virginia. The motion builds […]
Here's the announcement: In its seventeenth year, the Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project offers paid summer clerkships for law students to work on consumer protection issues in the offices of State Attorneys General across the country. The Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project provides law students the extraordinary opportunity to work in the consumer protection departments […]
by Jeff Sovern My latest Bloomberg Law Insight piece. Excerpt: No doubt the same people who want to free businesses of accountability for sickening people would oppose the outlawing of Covid-19 liability waivers as an infringement on liberty. But practically no one reads contracts—not even consumer law professors. And if consumers do read them, they probably […]
The FDA has issued warning letters to two companies — Griffo Botanicals and Prairie Dawn Herbs — telling them to stop promoting non-FDA-approved herbal products "to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19." These letters include this language: FDA is advising consumers not to purchase or use certain products that have not been approved, cleared, […]