What would you like to know about consumer law professors?

I plan to survey participants in the Teaching Consumer Law Conference, to be held May 17-18 in Santa Fe, about various matters, and then present the results at the conference. I’ve posted below multiple-choice questions I am thinking about asking. I’m also hoping to follow each question with an invitation to say more. Are there any questions you would add to the list? Questions you would modify? Delete? If so, please let me know either in the comments below or at jsovern@law.umaryland.edu. The list is already too long so I expect to have to cut some.

1. How many times have you taught a consumer law course?
   1. I haven’t yet but I hope to
   2. Once
   3. Two to four times
   4. Five or more times
2. For this question, pick the consumer law course you have taught the most times. Which of the following best describes your course?
   1. Clinic
   2. Doctrinal course with an exam
   3. Paper course
   4. Other
3. As a general matter, when you teach (or will teach) the consumer law you just identified, are you more interested in teaching fewer topics in depth or teaching more topics with less depth?
   1. Fewer topics but more in depth
   2. More topics with less depth
   3. About even.
4. When you teach consumer law, how important is it to you that students learn the legal doctrine?
   1. Very important
   2. Somewhat important
   3. Neither important not unimportant
   4. Not that important
   5. Not important at all.
5. When you teach consumer law, how important is it to you that students learn problem-solving skills?
   1. Very important
   2. Somewhat important
   3. Neither important not unimportant
   4. Not that important
   5. Not important at all.
6. When you teach consumer law, how important is it to you that students learn the skills needed to work with statutes and/or regulations?
   1. Very important
   2. Somewhat important
   3. Neither important not unimportant
   4. Not that important
   5. Not important at all.
7. When you teach consumer law, how important is it to you that students learn policy justifications for the rules?
   1. Very important
   2. Somewhat important
   3. Neither important not unimportant
   4. Not that important
   5. Not important at all.
8. When you teach consumer law, how important is it to you that students hear arguments that you yourself disagree with (e.g., if you discuss the pros or cons of payday lending regulation, that students hear both about consumers getting caught in debt traps and that such regulation assumes government is better at deciding what benefits consumers than the consumers themselves)?
   1. Very important
   2. Somewhat important
   3. Neither important not unimportant
   4. Not that important
   5. Not important at all.
9. As a general matter, do you think the United States has the right amount of regulation of consumer transactions, too much, or not enough?
   1. Much too much
   2. Too much
   3. The right amount
   4. Not enough
   5. Not nearly enough
10. Of the following choices, which do you think would be the best economic system for the United States?
    1. Largely unregulated capitalism
    2. Somewhat regulated capitalism
    3. Highly regulated capitalism
    4. Socialism
11. As a general matter, who would you trust more with your personal information?
    1. A private company
    2. The government
    3. About the same
12. If you were considering buying a product or service from a business, and you noticed their contract includes an arbitration clause, what would you do?
    1. I would agree to the contract because I don’t object to arbitration clauses.
    2. I would agree to the contract even though I object to arbitration clauses.
    3. I would search for another business that did not include an arbitration clause in their contract.
13. If you were considering buying a product or service from a business, and you noticed their contract includes an arbitration clause, and that it permits you to opt-out if you wrote the company within a specified time period, what would you do?
    1. I would agree to the contract and write to opt-out of the arbitration clause.
    2. I would agree to the contract but not write to opt-out of the arbitration clause because I do not object to arbitration clauses.
    3. I would agree to the contract but even though I object to arbitration clauses I would not write to opt-out of the arbitration clause because even if I opt-out, the likelihood is that too few consumers would opt-out to enable a case to be brought as a class action.
    4. I would agree to the contract but even though I object to arbitration clauses I would not write to opt-out of the arbitration clause for some other reason.
    5. I would search for another business that did not include an arbitration clause in their contract.
14. Have you ever been on the verge of agreeing to a consumer contract but then read a contract term that you found objectionable, other than price, and so decided against agreeing to the consumer contract?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know.
15. Do you think disclosure is an effective consumer protection device?
    1. Always
    2. Usually
    3. Sometimes
    4. Rarely
    5. Never
16. If you think disclosure is at least sometimes not an effective consumer protection device, why do you think it is not?
    1. Consumers often don’t read disclosures
    2. Consumers often don’t understand disclosures
    3. Both a and be are true
    4. Mostly for some other reason
17. Which of the following best describes your view of the phrase “dark patterns”?
    1. I am not familiar with that phrase.
    2. Positive because it calls attention to a problem.
    3. Positive for some other reason.
    4. Neither positive nor negative
    5. Negative because the practices prohibited by dark patterns are nothing new.
    6. Negative for some other reason

18. Which of the following best describes your view of the phrase “junk fees”?
    1. I am not familiar with that phrase.
    2. Positive because it calls attention to a problem.
    3. Positive for some other reason.
    4. Neither positive nor negative
    5. Negative because it has been applied to legitimate fees.
    6. Negative for some other reason
19. If you have a credit card, do you know if the method by which the credit card issuer calculates the balance due on the credit card you use most often (e.g., adjusted balance method, average daily balance method) is disclosed on your credit card statement and what it is?
    1. The method is disclosed on my credit card statement and I know what it is.
    2. The method is disclosed on my credit card statement and I paid attention to it but I don’t know what it is.
    3. The method is disclosed on my credit card statement but I have never paid attention to it.
    4. I don’t know if the method is disclosed on my credit card statement.
    5. The method is not disclosed on my credit card statement.
    6. I do not have a credit card.
20. When it comes to terms that few consumers understand, like the one described in the previous question about how credit card balances are calculated, would you guess businesses usually choose the contract term for their contract which:
    1. Maximizes the benefit to the consumer.
    2. Maximize the benefit to the business.
    3. About the same
21. Have you ever served as a named plaintiff in a consumer case?
    1. Yes, in a class action
    2. Yes, but not in a class action
    3. Yes, both in a class action and a non-class action
    4. No
    5. I don’t know
22. Have you ever represented a consumer in a consumer litigation?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know
23. Have you ever represented a business in a consumer litigation?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know
24. Have you ever drafted a consumer contract for a business?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know
25. Have you ever had a debt, other than a medical debt, go into collection?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know
26. Have you ever had a medical debt go into collection?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know
27. Have you ever overdrawn a bank account?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. I don’t know