Law Commons^™

Social Responsibility In Corporate Investment, Patrick M. Talbot

Patrick M Talbot

ABSTRACT

(Social Responsibility in Corporate Investment)

In our increasingly globalized economy, many transnational and multinational enterprises have sought to take advantage of investment opportunities in foreign nations, often in less developed countries. This can be a good opportunity for both the foreign investor and the host country, if properly managed and directed. In the last several decades, however, corporate investors have fallen under intense scrutiny for social problems they have caused or been directly or indirectly involved in. These have involved reports of abuse of labor, mistreatment of local inhabitants, misappropriation of land and resources, and crimes. Corporate involvement in …

Bankruptcy Law, Hon. Douglas O. Tice Jr., K. Elizabeth Sieg, David W. Gaffey

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Opting Out Of The Procedural Morass: A Solution To The Class Arbitration Problem, Emanwel J. Turnbull

Emanwel J Turnbull

American class actions are internationally regarded as a procedural form to avoid and widely criticized in the United States. They have been narrowed and restricted by U.S. statutes and case law. Plaintiffs' lawyers in consumer class actions are portrayed as greedy and fraudulent, while businesses are increasingly acting to avoid class actions through mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses. Even class arbitration is criticized as leading to a “procedural morass.” This Article proposes that parties and arbitral fora opt out of the American procedural morass (and the attendant long-running disputes about American class actions) by adopting an English procedural rule for aggregation. …

Quantifying The Economic Benefits Of Effective Redress: Large E-Commerce Data Sets And The Cost-Benefit Case For Investing In Dispute Resolution, Colin Rule

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Demonstrating the economic benefit of investments in fair and effective redress systems has been one of the greatest challenges for dispute resolution. This article uses results from large e-commerce data sets to demonstrate the quantifiable benefit in of investments in effective dispute resolution processes. Specifically, the data is based not on user-reported satisfaction, which can be unreliable, but instead on an analysis of the actual behavior of users before and after a dispute event. The result is hard evidence of the economic benefits from the deployment of effective redress processes, which is relevant to e-commerce service providers, as well as …

Building Bridges To Remedies For Consumers In International Conflicts, Amy J. Schmitz

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This essay addresses the lack of consumer remedy mechanism, and attempts to open consideration of expanded use of online processes for resolving business-to-consumer (B2C) eConflicts. Specifically, the essay attempts to highlight the problems created by problematic and uncertain enforcement of B2C arbitration, and proposes the use of the Internet to create fair and globally enforceable Online Dispute Resolution and Online Arbitration (OArb) mechanisms. These mechanisms would capitalize on the growth and efficiency of the Internet while protecting consumers from burdensome and/or expensive procedures that render existing remedies meaningless.

The essay begins by discussing the importance of fair and accepted B2C …

Classification Of Clients Of Financial Firms: From Comparative Law Perspective, Christopher Chao-Hung Chen

Christopher Chao-hung Chen

The purpose of this article is to examine current regulations under Taiwan law with regard to classification of clients of financial firms in Taiwan from the perspective of comparative law. After comparing with relevant laws in the EU, UK, USA, Hong Kong, and Singapore, this article argues that there are certain points worth further consideration and revision under Taiwan law: first, the level of current regulation in Taiwan and its scope are rather limited compared with foreign laws; secondly, it is necessary to introduce other standards than mere ‘total assets’ in order to determine a ‘large’ enterprise; and thirdly, current …

National Roundtable On Consumer And Employment Dispute Resolution: Consumer Arbitration Roundtable Summary Report, Thomas J. Stipanowich, Nancy Walsh, Lisa Blomgren Bingham, Lawrence R. Mills

Thomas J. Stipanowich

This report is a summary of the discussions at the Consumer Arbitration Roundtable held at Pepperdine University on February 2-4, 3012 and co-sponsored by Pepperdine School of Law, The Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law. It was prepared by members of the Planning Committee.

Adjusting Unconscionability As An Alternative To The "'Fair Contracts' Approval Mechanism", Daniel J. Cohn

Daniel J. Cohn

Courts are in the habit of enforcing contracts. Courts enforce contracts governing consumer transactions even though empirical data show consumers do not read those terms. The big question is, “Should they?” One legal scholar, Shmuel I. Becher, has answered that question with a resounding “yes, but differently.” Becher proposes a creative and comprehensive third-party approval system for consumer contracts, known as the “‘Fair Contracts’ Approval Mechanism.” In this Paper, I identify several fatal problems associated with Becher’s proposed system, and—given those problems—propose an alternative method of protecting consumers. Specifically, I suggest adjusting the unconscionability doctrine to include a sliding-scale analysis …

Risk And Responsibility: State Regulation And Enforcement Of The Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing Industry, Helen C. Dick

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Do We Have A Debt Collection Crisis? Some Cautionary Tales Of Debt Collection In Indiana, Judith Fox

Journal Articles

The Federal Trade Commission, in 2009, raised issues about debt collection practices and called on jurisdictions to investigate local practices that may be abusive to consumers. This article is the beginning of a larger study of debt collection practices in Indiana. It examines debt collection cases filed in Indiana courts in a three month period of 2009 and 2011 While most research on this issues has been in small claims court systems, this article suggests that the same, if not greater, consumer abuses exist in other courts. The research shows a pattern of large, national debt collection firms moving away …

The Irony Of At&T V. Concepcion, Colin P. Marks

Faculty Articles

Irony is defined as, “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.” Though many other definitions of the word exist, in light of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in AT&T v. Concepcion, this definition comes to mind. Read broadly, the decision strikes a blow to the ability of consumers to bring suits against companies, both inside and outside of arbitration. But that was not the intent behind the federal act which the Court relied upon to justify its decision.

In 1925, when Congress passed the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), its intended …

Legal Process In A Box, Or What Class Action Waivers Teach Us About Law-Making, Rhonda Wasserman

Articles

The Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion advanced an agenda found in neither the text nor the legislative history of the Federal Arbitration Act. Concepcion provoked a maelstrom of reactions not only from the press and the academy, but also from Congress, federal agencies and lower courts, as they struggled to interpret, apply, reverse, or cabin the Court’s blockbuster decision. These reactions raise a host of provocative questions about the relationships among the branches of government and between the Supreme Court and the lower courts. Among other questions, Concepcion and its aftermath force us to grapple with the …

New Use Of The Doctrine Of Unconscionability To Invalidate Arbitration Agreements In Consumer Contracts, The Note, Valerie Dixon

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Manfredi v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield suggests that this old judicial hostility is alive and well in Missouri jurisprudence. In an effort to level the playing field between parties of unequal bargaining power, Missouri courts have applied the unconscionability doctrine as a way to sidestep the United States Supreme Court's asserted policy favoring arbitration over litigation.7 This note considers the new approach of Missouri courts in invalidating arbitration agreements through the doctrine of unconscionability in the consumer context.

Purpose, Precedent, And Politics: Why Concepcion Covers Less Than You Think, Michael A. Helfand

Michael A Helfand

This article sketches some possible limitations on the impact AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion will have going forward. While many have seen the Supreme Court’s decision as simultaneously signaling an end to the viability of class action lawsuits and undermining principles of federalism, there may be reasons to believe that it will not have implications quite so far reaching. Specifically, this article proposes three reasons why Concepcion’s impact may be limited. First, the decision lends itself to a more narrow reading, which simply demands that courts take the entire of an arbitration agreement into account before deploying common law defenses to …