Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: How to Use the Restatement of Consumer Contracts - A Guide for Judges
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: “Accidental Arbitration” -- A New Theory that Would Rein in Consumer Arbitration Clauses and the Scope of the FAA
OK at Work: Navigating Customer Terms and Usage
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Look at the FTC’s Click-to-Cancel Rule, with James Kohm, Associate Director of Enforcement Division of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Look at a New Approach to Consumer Contracts
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Reasons Why the CFPB Should Deny the Petition for Rulemaking on Post-Dispute Consumer Arbitration Agreements
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
Join us for the latest episode of Financial Services Focus as Andy Demko and Archis Parasharami discuss how consumer arbitration became popular among U.S. businesses in response to class actions from the late 90s onward. The...more
Earlier 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...more
On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation v. Kelly Donaldson and Robert Haulcy, No. SC99269 and Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation v. Christopher...more
A recent Sixth Circuit decision caught my eye because it addressed an important issue on which I have not seen any other appellate decisions (and none were cited in the opinion). The plaintiff argued that the Class Action...more
This past Friday, by a vote of 225-186, the House passed H.R. 1423, the “Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act.” A Senate companion bill (S. 610) was introduced in February 2019 and referred to the Senate Judiciary...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011) caused a shockwave in California’s class action bar when it held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempted California’s former...more
The First Circuit recently held that an arbitration clause contained in the online contract of the ride sharing app, Uber Technologies, Inc., is unenforceable under Massachusetts law. ...more
On November 1, President Trump formally did away with a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) arbitration rule that would have given consumers the opportunity to file class actions against banks and other companies in...more
The latest large consumer data breach, this time involving Equifax, has also shed a sharp light on an ongoing controversy about consumers’ access to justice. In taking steps to ameliorate its PR crisis, Equifax found itself...more
Yesterday the Senate struck down a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) rule which would have prohibited providers of financial products and services from including class action waivers in their arbitration...more
The Senate voted on Tuesday, October 24, to repeal the CFPB’s Arbitration Rule first proposed in May of 2016 and issued in its final form in July. The rule would have imposed limitations on the use of pre-dispute arbitration...more
The short-lived rule will likely be remembered as part of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Obama Administration’s legacy, and as continuing the trend of courts strictly enforcing agreements to arbitrate as...more
In Security Alarm Financing Enterprises, L.P. v. Fuller, et al., Case No. 1 CA-CV 16-0255 (Ariz. Ct. App. July 6, 2017), the Arizona Court of Appeals recently held as a matter of first impression that Arizona state courts...more
An arbitration agreement preventing individuals from seeking injunctive relief was void as contrary to California public policy and could not be enforced under California law, the California Supreme Court recently determined...more
On April 6, the California Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in McGill v. Citibank, finding that a pre-dispute arbitration agreement was unenforceable to the extent it required the plaintiff to waive her right to seek...more
In a closely-watched case, the California Supreme Court recently held in McGill v. Citibank, N.A. that arbitration clauses that foreclose a plaintiff’s right to pursue public injunctive relief in any forum are invalid and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: No California contractual provision, including one in an arbitration agreement, can waive the statutory right to seek injunctive relief to protect the general public. McGill v. Citibank, N.A. (April 6,...more
On April 6, 2017, the California Supreme Court struck another blow in its contentious battle with the United States Supreme Court on the enforceability of consumer arbitration clauses subject to the Federal Arbitration Act...more
Director Cordray has sent a letter to Senator Jeff Flake responding to a series of questions posed by the Senator on the CFPB’s proposed arbitration rule. The comment period on the proposed rule closed on August 22, 2016. ...more
California’s back-and-forth on arbitrations and class actions continued again this week. In a key 4-3 decision the California Supreme Court held that the arbitrator—not the court—can decide whether an arbitration...more
On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a proposed rule to prohibit providers of certain consumer financial products and services from using arbitration clauses to block consumers from filing...more
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) yesterday issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, among other things, would prohibit the use of class action waivers in arbitration clauses in connection with a broad...more
As widely anticipated, the CFPB announced at its field hearing today in Albuquerque, New Mexico that it is proposing regulations that would prohibit covered providers of certain consumer financial products and services from...more
This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) published a proposed rule which would prohibit application of pre-dispute arbitration agreements to class litigation involving a broad range of consumer...more