CL&P Blog: Consumer Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Consumer Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Consumer Law

CL&P Blog

The contributors to this blog are a diverse group of lawyers and law professors who practice, teach, or write about consumer law and policy. Although the blog is hosted by Public Citizen's Consumer Justice Project, the views expressed here are solely those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions with which they are affiliated.

Post Frequency: 15.1/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 11:13:04

Progress in protecting gripe site owners against silly trademark claims

Posted on July 14, 2010
by Paul Alan Levy A recent decision from a federal judge in Detroit holds out hope of providing better protection for the owners of Internet gripe sites who face groundless lawsuits intended to make them pay a high price for...

Three Interesting Articles on the OCC, Debt Collection, and the Military Lending Act

Posted on July 13, 2010
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday the Times published speculations about who will replace John Dugan as head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in its Reuters BreakingViews column. The OCC will continue to matter even after the CFPB...

Georgia State University Law Review Articles on Consumer Law

Posted on July 12, 2010
Longtime consumer law professor Mark Budnitz's home law review, Georgia State University Law Review, has published a quintet of consumer law articles, including an article by Mark himself, The Development of Consumer Protection Law, the Institutionalization of Consumerism, and Future...

FTC Issues Major Report on Debt Collection and Forced Arbitration: System is "Broken"

Posted on July 12, 2010
by Deepak Gupta The Federal Trade Commission today issued a major report on debt collection and the forced arbitration of consumer collection disputes. Concluding that "the system for resolving consumer debt collection disputes is broken," the FTC recommends a series...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

How Chase Bank Almost Helped a Teenager Get Scammed

Posted on July 09, 2010
by Jeff Sovern A teenager I know responded to a listing for a summer job on Craig's List. The employer claimed he was opening an art gallery and would pay $400 a week for twelve hours of work running errands...

The Cost of Accessing Academic Research

Posted on July 08, 2010
In the legal world, we've become accustomed to getting most law review articles for free on SSRN. It doesn't seem that easy in the world of science. The publisher of the prestigious scientific journal Nature wants to up its on-line...

Interim Health Care Reform Regulations and Transition

Posted on July 08, 2010
With big changes in the law, transition is often a big issue. Often, you don't want to just "grandfather" forever all the old products or services already on the market or you haven't achieved real reform. And, besides, sometimes "grandfathering"...

Not Everyone is Happy that the New CFPB Bill Will Give Denied Credit Applicants a Right to See Their Credit Score

Posted on July 08, 2010
by Jeff Sovern Berin Michael Szoka of The Progress & Freedom Foundation has written The Dangerous Implications of a 'Right' to Free Credit Scores . Here's the abstract: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 2003, every American has a...

Brent White Paper on Underwater Mortgages

Posted on July 07, 2010
Brent T. White of the University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law has written Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis. With more than 12,000 downloads, it's the most...

Are Overdraft Fees a Things of the Past? Not by a Longshot.

Posted on July 06, 2010
Last week, new rules went into effect barring overdraft fees on ATM withdrawals and one-time debit card charges, unless the consumer opts in. We've discussed the issue extensively in the past. David Lazarus in today's LA Times explains that the...

Building a New Consumer Protection Agency

Posted on July 06, 2010
Will Liz Warren or someone else be tapped to run the new consumer financial protection agency? What will the agency look like, what will its priorities be, and how will it manage the transition? In today's Wall Street Journal, Sudeep...

"Paperless" Ticketing for Concerts, Ballgames, Etc.

Posted on July 05, 2010
Read here about how concerts and ball games may move toward so-called paperless ticketing. You'd have to buy the ticket by credit card or ID card, and then the only way to get into the event would be to swipe...

Product Recall Fatigue

Posted on July 02, 2010
Today's Washington Post has this front page article on so-called product recall fatigue. The concern is that there are so many product recalls -- some of course more critical than others -- that consumers get lost and won't respond in...

Should Parents Be Punished For Smoking While Their Kids Are In The Car?

Posted on July 02, 2010
The New York Times reports today that Under a City Council proposal, New York City would prohibit smoking in cars where children are riding, joining the ranks of Arkansas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Bangor, Me., and Rockland County, N.Y., where similar....

CPSC Recalls for June 2010

Posted on July 02, 2010
Just to add to your product recall fatigue, here are the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls for June 2010.

Henry Sommer on Mortgage Overcharges and the Need for Reform

Posted on July 02, 2010
If you do bankruptcy work or help people deal with predatory mortgage lending, you should read bankruptcy law expert and consumer advocate Henry Sommer's post over at Credit Slips on unlawful mortgage overcharges. He explains that the overcharges themselves can...

More on Financial Reform Legislation

Posted on July 01, 2010
We posted last night on the House's passage of the financial reform legislation. Although President Obama wanted to sign the legislation before July 4th, that won't happen because of concerns about getting 60 votes in the Senate. Today's Washington Post...

The Future of Financial Reform: Looking Ahead

Posted on July 01, 2010
A few days ago, the indefatigable consumer advocate Ed Mierzwinski of U.S. PIRG had these forward-looking thoughts about financial reform at his Consumer Blog. "It will be critical," Ed observes, "for public interest groups and the media to do three....

House Passes Financial Reform, 237-192

Posted on July 01, 2010
Brian Beutler has the details at Talking Points Memo: By a vote of 237-192, the House of Representatives this afternoon voted to pass final legislation dramatically changing the rules that govern the financial industry. Nineteen Democrats joined 173 Republicans in...

Forced Arbitration and the Kagan Hearings

Posted on July 01, 2010
by Deepak Gupta The forced arbitration of claims arising out of statutory protections for consumers and employees has become a hot topic at the Kagan hearings. The parade of comments by Senators started even before the hearings began, with a...

San Francisco Requires Cell Phone Retailers to Inform Customers About Radiation Emissions

Posted on June 29, 2010
As the Washington Post explains in today's edition, "[l]ast week, the [San Francisco] Board of Supervisors passed a law -- the first in the nation -- requiring retailers to inform their customers how much radiation the cellphones on their shelves...

Does the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill Still Have 60 Votes in the Senate?

Posted on June 29, 2010
According to today's Wall Street Journal, because of the recent death of Senator Robert Byrd and a few Senators who are threatening to switch their votes, the legislation's fate may be in doubt even though a similar bill earlier cleared...

Prof. David Cole on the Supreme Court's First Amendment Jurisprudence

Posted on June 28, 2010
Georgetown law professor David Cole maintains in this N.Y. Review of Books piece that when the Supreme Court engages in "strict scrutiny" of legislative regulation of corporate speech (as in the Citizens United case), the Court is really strict, but....

Here's The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act

Posted on June 27, 2010
As we previously reported, the Wall Street Reform legislation has emerged from the House-Senate conference committee. The conference report -- that is, the legislation that the two houses will now be asked to okay -- is 2315 pages. It's called...

NY Times Editorial on Forced Arbitration and the Supreme Court

Posted on June 27, 2010
Today's New York Times contains this terrific editorial, linking to Public Citizen's research on mandatory arbitration outcomes, criticizing the Supreme Court's recent decision in Rent-a-Center v. Jackson, and endorsing intervention by Congress: Beware the Fine Print Buried in the fine...

Some Seeming Disappointments in the CFPB Bill

Posted on June 27, 2010
by Jeff Sovern I haven't read the conference Dodd-Frank bill yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but judging by Gretchen Morgenson's column in today's Times, it is a long way from a complete victory for consumers. Of...

More Details on the Financial Reform Legislation Conference Deal

Posted on June 26, 2010
As we explained yesterday, a deal on the financial reform legislation has been reached by the House-Senate conference committee. The bill must now go back to each chamber for final passage of the conference-approved deal and signature by President Obama...

Senator Franken Condemns 5-4 Decision in Rent-a-Center v. Jackson

Posted on June 26, 2010
On the Senate floor, Senator Al Franken condemned the Supreme Court?s decision in Rent-A-Center v. Jackson (in which a 5-4 majority of the Court upheld the power of arbitration agreements to remove even threshold questions of validity from review by....

Financial Reform Deal Reached at Dawn

Posted on June 25, 2010
On party line votes -- 20 to 11 in the House and 7 to 5 in the Senate -- House and Senate conferees have in the wee hours this morning reached a final deal on the financial reform legislation. More...

Transparency (Or Not) at OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Posted on June 25, 2010
Rena Steinzor, a University of Maryland law professor and President of the Center for Progressive Reform, has written this blog post condemning what she views as a lack of transparency at the powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...

The Mexico Trucker Blog
I've written before about the perceived problems with relaxed rest...