Public Justice

March 18, 2015 In Blog

Trans Fat by Any Other Name: Court Reinstates False Advertising Lawsuit in Food Safety Win

photo credit: Mykl Roventine via Flickr By Leslie A. BruecknerSenior Attorney If you care about food safety and consumer rights, then I have good news for you. On Friday, March 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a satisfyingly pro-consumer decision reinstating…

March 11, 2015 In Blog

CFPB Hearing: Data on One Side, Empty Rhetoric on the Other

photo credit: cfpb 36794 via photopin (license) By Gabriel HopkinsThornton-Robb Attorney In today’s era of Big Data, analytics, and sabermetrics, the cheeky motto “in God we trust, all others must bring data” has never seemed more relevant. Well, in the arena of mandatory arbitration provisions…

March 10, 2015 In Updates

CFPB Report Finds Forced Arbitration is Bad for Consumers

photo credit: plastic please via photopin (license) By Aidan O’SheaCommunications Specialist A report released today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found that forced arbitration clauses – language in consumer contracts that pushes any customer dispute out of court and into a private, secret,…

March 5, 2015 In Blog

Payday Lending: Boon or Boondoggle for Tribes?

By Leslie BaileyStaff Attorney Earlier this week, the Washington Post published a fascinating piece profiling the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, a small Native American tribe that ostensibly went into the payday loan business in a quest for much-needed funding for…

March 4, 2015 In Blog

Trinity Guardrails Court Files Must Be Open, Court Rules

An image from the Harman v. Trinity complaint. By Leah NichollsStaff Attorney Good news! Yesterday, in a high-profile case involving the safety of highway guardrails, Harman v. Trinity, the court ordered that all the court records in the case be made open to the public….

February 17, 2015 In Updates

California Supreme Court Poised to Rule in Fight for the Integrity of Organic Food Labeling

By Aidan O’SheaCommunications Specialist& Leslie BruecknerSenior Attorney The principle that you should get what you pay for is central to consumer rights in America. When someone chooses to pay more for food marked as “100 percent Organic,” they should be able to expect that they’re…

February 6, 2015 In Blog

Federal Judge: Corporations Can’t Slip Fine Print on Websites By Consumers

photo credit: LendingMemo via photopin cc By

January 26, 2015 In Updates

Public Justice Attorney Jim Hecker to Receive 2015 Kerry Rydberg Award for Environmental Activism

By Aidan O’SheaCommunications Specialist Jim Hecker Update: On March 6, Jim Hecker received the Kerry Rydberg Award at the Publc Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Ore. In the below video (the presentation begins around the ten-minute mark), past winners honor Hecker for making…

January 22, 2015 In Blog

Rules Apply to Everyone: Even Zombies

Image via The Debt Settlement Agency. By Karla GilbrideStaff Attorney Imagine that you try to buy something using your debit card and the transaction is declined. You call your bank to find out what’s going on and are told that your account has been frozen…

January 21, 2015 In Blog

Judge Rules Dairy Manure Causes Imminent and Substantial Health Risk

An image from the Ericksen report, submitted by the plaintiffs in this case. By Jessica CulpepperFood Safety & Health Attorney The people of Yakima Valley, Wash., scored a major victory last Wednesday after more than two decades of fighting for their community and being ignored…