Consumer Law

CL&P Roundup

By Deepak Gupta

by Deepak Gupta

Arbitration and Class Actions: On Saturday, The New York Times ran an editorial entitled "The Arbitration War," supporting consumers and state law in AT&T v. Concepcion. The Wall Street Journal's ed board, allowing its antipathy to class actions to trump core federalism principles, has taken the opposite side of the debate. You can watch me attempt to defend our side on Fox Business:

For a much broader perspective on the Supreme Court's FAA jurisprudence, check out the recent posts by Lawrence Cunningham of George Washington Law at Concurring Opinions (here, here, and here), discussing Concepcion and previewing his forthcoming law review article on the uneasy relationship between the Court's cases and traditional notions of contract law.

The Fed and Foreclosures: That's the title of a Times editorial from yesterday's paper, taking aim at a a troubling proposal by the Federal Reserve Board that would, as PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski puts it, effectively "rescind the homeowner's right to rescind" -- a key protection under the Truth in Lending Act -- just when consumers need it most. Hundreds of consumer, civil rights, legal services, community and labor groups and private and public interest attorneys representing homeowners, along with the coalition Americans for Financial Reform, have urged the Board to withdraw the proposed rule.

Elizabeth Warren, the CFPB, and the White House: At the Huffington Post, Simon Johnson of MIT defends "The Economics and Politics of Elizabeth Warren" and Shahien Nasiripour looks at Warren's pivotal role in getting President Obama to veto an under-the-radar bill on foreclosure documentation that had somehow passed both houses of Congress without public attention. The WSJ and Bloomberg pick through Professor Warren's schedule and focus on her meetings with bankers.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on November 29, 2010 (boomark / email).