Our special guest is David Horton, Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis, who has written a creative and thought-provoking article analyzing how courts should interpret certain key provisions that are...more
Earlier this month, the CFPB issued a report titled Strengthening State-Level Consumer Protection. The report argues, among other things, that states should “[r]evitalize private enforcement” by promulgating additional UDAAP...more
We are very pleased to report that the CFPB has denied a Petition for Rulemaking filed by a group of consumer advocate organizations that would prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts in...more
Earlier this week, the CFPB issued a proposed rule. Among other things, the proposed rule would “forbid covered persons from including in their consumer contracts any terms or conditions that purport to waive substantive...more
1/17/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Contract Terms ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Earlier this year, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in Pace v. Hamilton Cove that class action waivers in consumer contracts that do not contain an arbitration clause (i.e., a stand-alone class action waiver) are not per se...more
12/31/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Services Industry ,
NJ Supreme Court ,
Public Policy ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
We previously wrote about a California federal district court decision in Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment that denied Ticketmaster’s motion to compel arbitration of Sherman Act antitrust claims based in large part on the...more
The CFPB has banned private dispute resolution platform Ejudicate from arbitrating disputes about consumer financial products, saying that the company had misled student borrowers about the company’s neutrality and initiated...more
10/17/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Banks ,
Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Student Loans ,
UDAAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
As reported in Public Citizen’s Consumer Law & Policy Blog, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently agreed to review Chilutti v. Uber Technologies, Inc., in which a divided panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court (and later...more
9/6/2024
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Burden of Proof ,
Contract Terms ,
Enforceability ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Jury Trial ,
Motion to Compel ,
Online Contracts ,
PA Supreme Court ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Uber
On July 8, we published a blog about a landmark 7th Circuit opinion involving mass arbitration: Pauline Wallrich v. Samsung Electronics America, Incorporated. In that opinion, the Court dismissed a lawsuit against Samsung...more
We previously wrote about an Illinois federal district court order requiring Samsung to pay about $4 million in arbitration fees in connection with 35,000 individual arbitration demands filed as part of a “mass arbitration”...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has held unanimously in Smith v. Spizzirri that when a district court finds that a lawsuit involves an arbitrable dispute and a party has requested a stay of the court proceedings pending arbitration,...more
Our special guest is Professor Richard Frankel of Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and the author of a recent article on mass arbitration. In this episode, we first discuss what mass arbitration is, how it...more
In a recent unpublished memorandum opinion in a putative class action, Carpenter et al. v. Opportunity Financial, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld an arbitration clause in an agreement governing...more
After several years of refusing to adopt special rules applicable in mass arbitration proceedings, JAMS announced that it has issued Mass Arbitration Procedures and Guidelines and a Mass Arbitration Procedures Fee Schedule...more
In connection with the petition to ban pre-dispute consumer arbitration agreements pending before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “forced arbitration,”...more
4/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process
We previously wrote about a Ninth Circuit appeal taken by Verizon Wireless, Inc. after a California district court judge held that its arbitration agreement, which required mass arbitration disputes to be resolved by multiple...more
Recently, 93 members of Congress (all Democrats) signed a letter in support of the pending Petition for Rulemaking filed by consumer advocacy groups in September that would prohibit pre-dispute consumer arbitration clauses...more
12/19/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Financial Contracts ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration
Recently, Professor Sovern replied to our blog post that commented on the letter that he and 160 other law academicians submitted to the CFPB in support of the pending Petition for Rulemaking that would prohibit pre-dispute...more
We previously reported and released a podcast episode on comments that we and Professor David Sherwyn of Cornell University submitted in opposition to the Petition for Rulemaking filed by a number of consumer advocacy groups...more
12/7/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Contract Disputes ,
CRA ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Contracts ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process
We previously blogged about an Illinois federal district court order requiring Samsung to pay about $4 million in arbitration fees in connection with 35,000 individual arbitration demands filed as part of a “mass...more
Our special guest is David Sherwyn, Professor of Law at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. In Sept. 2023, a group of consumer advocate organizations filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the CFPB that would...more
A Rhode Island federal district court recently refused to enforce a stand-alone class action waiver in the consumer plaintiff’s automobile lease agreement on the ground that it violates state public policy. The court in...more
10/27/2023
/ Auto Lease ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Strike ,
Rhode Island ,
Waivers
Earlier this month, in Fama v. Opportunity Financial LLC, a Magistrate Judge of the federal district court for the Western District of Washington held that the arbitration provision in OppFi’s installment loan agreement is...more
10/27/2023
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Installment Agreements ,
Loan Agreements ,
Opt-Outs ,
Putative Class Actions ,
RICO ,
True Lender
Currently, California trial court proceedings are automatically stayed when a party appeals an order denying a motion to compel arbitration. However, on October 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed California Senate Bill No. 365...more
Last week, a group of consumer advocate organizations filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the CFPB that would prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts in favor of arbitration clauses that...more
9/19/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Proposed Regulation