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Public Justice Speaks Out for Consumer Rights and the CFPB on Capitol Hill
Two weeks ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a new rule that would prohibit lenders from including forced arbitration clauses with class action bans in their lending contracts. Today, Public Justice’s Executive Director, Paul Bland, will testify in front of the House’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee in support of this rule.
Practice Area ; Consumers' Rights
California Supreme Court to Hear Drug Company Challenge to Personal Jurisdiction
One of the first things I learned in law school was that a corporation’s “continuous and systematic” economic activities in a particular state were sufficient to subject the company to personal jurisdiction in that state. That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court held way back in 1945. And that that remained essentially undisturbed for over 70 years. In 2014, however, the Supreme Court gave corporations a brand-new defense that they are now employing with great gusto in courts across the country. Public Justice is challenging that in a newly filed amicus brief, taking on corporations that are attempting to limit injured plaintiffs’ access to justice by advocating a narrow reading of Supreme Court precedent to effectively deny injury victims access to state courts.
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New Rule: Fighting the Fine Print
After years of discussions and debates, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unveiling a major new rule that will prohibit lenders from including forced arbitration clauses with class action bans in their lending contracts.
Ninth Circuit Rejects Defendant’s Effort to Pick Off Named Class Representative
A powerful blow has just been struck by the Ninth Circuit today, as it’s rejected a corporation’s effort to escape from legal liability by paying off a few individuals to wipe away the claims of thousands. This is a gigantic victory for consumers and workers.
TransUnion Can’t Use Its Slick Website Design to Trick Consumers Into Giving Up Their Day in Court
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit announced that TransUnion – one of the three big credit reporting agencies and one of the most powerful corporations in America – went too far in trying to slip an arbitration clause past consumers in a way they wouldn’t notice.
Tyson Foods Loses Bid to Reverse Worker Class Action in U.S. Supreme Court
And now for some rare but good news on the class action front from the U.S. Supreme Court:
For months now, Supreme Court watchers have been waiting with bated breath to see whether food industry giant Tyson Foods, Inc. would succeed in its bid to reverse a $5.8 million judgment in favor of Iowa meat processing employees who were not paid for their time “donning and doffing” protective equipment.
Well guess what? Tyson Foods lost.
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States Are Mobilizing to Protect Consumers from Forced Arbitration
As the New York Times recently reported, corporations have been taking away Americans’ ability to sue in court if the company harms them, without most people even being aware that they have given up their Constitutional rights. Corporations do this by slipping provisions into “terms and conditions” on the back of product packaging, or on the bottom of webpages, or buried in dense contracts that patients must sign before entering a hospital or nursing home.
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No, You Can’t Just Write a Contract that Says No Federal Law Applies
When James Hayes took out a loan for $2525 via the Western Sky lending company, he probably expected, like most consumers do, that he would be charged some interest. But by any reasonable standard, the 139.12% rate he was effectively charged—turning his initial $2525 loan into a $14,093 debt—was jaw-dropping.
A Payday Lender’s Race to the Bottom
by Gabriel Hopkins Thornton-Robb Attorney Scott Tucker loves fast cars. That might be why he raced to the bottom as the owner and operator of a payday lending business whose complicated and lopsided repayment plan duped millions of consumers. Now the details of this operation…
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Remington Agrees to Unseal All Documents in Cases over Fatal Defect in America’s Most Popular Rifle
Image via CNBC’s Remington Under Fire: The Reckoning. Remington Arms Company – the oldest firearms manufacturer in the country – has known for years that one of its most popular guns has a defect that can cause it to fire without the trigger ever being…