Law Commons^™

The Customer Is Not Always Right: Balancing Worker And Customer Welfare In Antitrust Law, Clayton J. Masterman

Journal Articles

A natural consequence of employer restraints of trade that decrease wages is lower prices. Under antitrust law, courts evaluate most such restraints of trade under the rule of reason. This Note argues that the rule of reason’s focus on consumer welfare and the natural price decrease that follows from employer restraints of trade cause underenforcement of antitrust law against anticompetitive employer conduct. Such a result is anomalous, because the consumer welfare standard that permeates antitrust law should protect employees as much as customers that purchase goods.

To solve the under-enforcement problem, this Note proposes that courts analyzing a restraint of …

The Failed Superiority Experiment, Christine P. Bartholomew

Journal Articles

Federal law requires a class action be “superior to alternative methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” This superiority requirement has gone unstudied, despite existing for half a century. This Article undertakes a comprehensive review of the superiority case law. It reveals a jurisprudence riddled with inconsistency as courts adopt diametrically opposed interpretations of the requirement. Originally crafted to encourage predictable, consistent class action decisions, superiority has mutated over the years into a dangerous wild card—subjectively used to stymie aggregate litigation. The solution is not adding a new requirement to the already onerous rules for class certification. Instead, judges …

Consumer Preferences For Performances Defaults, Franklin G. Snyder, Ann M. Mirabito

Faculty Scholarship

Commercial law in the United States is designed to facilitate private transactions, and thus to enforce the presumed intent of the parties, who generally are free to negotiate the terms they choose. But these contracts inevitably have gaps, both because the parties cannot anticipate every situation that might arise from their relationship, and because negotiation is not costless. When courts are faced with these gaps in a litigation context, they supply default terms to fill them. These defaults usually are set to reflect what courts believe similar parties would have agreed to if they had addressed the issue. These "majoritarian" …

Johnson V. Wells Fargo Bank Nat’L Ass’N, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 70 (September 29, 2016), Brittni Griffith

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered whether the Bank Secrecy Act prevents financial institutions from disclosing all investigative information in discovery to an adverse party. The Court held that the Bank Secrecy Act only precludes the disclosure of information relating to the existence of a suspicious activity report or the procedural nature of the suspicious activity report’s generation.

Antitrust And Intellectual Property: A Brief Introduction, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

Intellectual property law and antitrust have been described as conflicting bodies of law, and the reason is easy to see. Antitrust law aims to protect consumers from the consequences of monopolization. Intellectual property law seeks to enhance incentives to innovate by granting monopolies in ideas or expressions of ideas. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the purported conflict between antitrust and intellectual property. The chapter is largely descriptive, and focuses on current or developing litigation rather than historical controversies. Many of the modern examples of conflict can be attributed to problems of classification.

Product Intervention For Retail Structured Investment Products: A Comparison Of Rules In Singapore, Hong Kong And Taiwan, Christopher C. H. Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article compares new product intervention rules in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan for complex structured investment products. Singapore’s approach is to improve firms’ internal safeguard, while Hong Kong’s approach is to require prior authorisation for new unlisted structured investment products by the securities regulator. Taiwan’s approach is to have a self regulatory body reviewing a product beforehand. This article argues that it is difficult to review the merit of a financial product in advance and thus it is difficult to have a true gatekeeper for toxic financial products. Before product intervention, we must first identify clear objectives. Regulators have …

The Insurability Of Claims For Restitution, Christopher French

Journal Articles

Does and should a wrongdoer’s liability insurance cover an aggrieved party’s claim for restitution (e.g., a claim for the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains)? This article answers those questions. It does so by first answering the question of whether claims for restitution are covered under the terms of liability insurance policies. Then, after concluding that they are, it addresses the question of whether claims for restitution should be insurable as a matter of public policy and insurance law theory. There are long-standing legal and equitable principles that, on the one hand, dictate that a wrongdoer should not be allowed to benefit …

Current Trends In Consumer Junk Debt Buyer Litigation, Peter Holland

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Law Enforcement: An Empirical Review, Christopher L. Peterson

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

In the aftermath of the U.S. financial crisis, Congress created a new federal agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — with the goal of fashioning a more just and efficient American consumer finance market. The CFPB now serves as the U.S. Government’s primary regulator and civil law enforcement agency governing consumer lending, payment systems, debt collection, and other consumer financial services. In its first four years of enforcing federal consumer protection laws, the CFPB has announced over a hundred different law enforcement cases forcing banks and other financial companies to relinquish over $11 billion in customer refunds, forgiven …

Regulation Of The Sharing Economy: Uber And Beyond, Jack M. Beermann

Shorter Faculty Works

On January 8, 2016, the Section held a program entitled “Regulation of the Sharing Economy: Uber and Beyond.” I served as moderator of the program, which included four excellent speakers, Nicole Benincasa, Attorney for Uber Technologies, Inc., Bernard N. Block, Managing Principal, Alvin W. Block & Associates, Chicago, Illinois, Randy May, Founder and President, Free State Foundation (and long-time active member of the Section) and Peter Mazer, General Counsel to the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade and former General Counsel to the New York City Taxicab Licensing Commission.

The program began by asking general questions about regulatory issues concerning the …

Contracting In The Age Of The Internet Of Things: Article 2 Of The Ucc And Beyond, Stacy-Ann Elvy

Articles & Chapters

This Article analyzes the global phenomenon of the Internet of Things (“IOT”) and its potential impact on consumer contracts for the sale of goods. Recent examples of IOT products include Amazon’s Dash Replenishment Service, which allows household devices to automatically reorder goods. By 2025, the IOT is estimated to have an economic impact of as much as $11.1 trillion. To date, there are approximately fifteen billion interconnected devices, and by 2020, there will be fifty billion such devices worldwide. IOT devices will revolutionize the way that consumers shop for consumable supplies and other goods. Consumers will no longer need to …

The Erosion Of Autonomy In Online Consumer Transactions, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Online businesses influence consumer behaviour by means of a wide range of technologies that determine what information is displayed as well as how and when it is displayed. This creates an unprecedented power imbalance between the transacting parties, raising questions not only about the permissible levels of procedural exploitation in contract law, together with the adequacy of existing consumer protections but also about the impact of technology on consumer autonomy. There is, however, no single technology that threatens the latter. It is the combined, mutually-enforcing effect of multiple technologies that influence consumer choices at different stages in the transacting process, …

Newsroom: Can Court 'Restore Fundamental Liberties'? 03-23-2016, Sheldon Whitehouse, David A. Logan

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Charging The Poor: Criminal Justice Debt & Modern-Day Debtors' Prisons, Neil L. Sobol

Faculty Scholarship

Debtors’ prisons should no longer exist. While imprisonment for debt was common in colonial times in the United States, subsequent constitutional provisions, legislation, and court rulings all called for the abolition of incarcerating individuals to collect debt. Despite these prohibitions, individuals who are unable to pay debts are now regularly incarcerated, and the vast majority of them are indigent. In 2015, at least ten lawsuits were filed against municipalities for incarcerating individuals in modern-day debtors’ prisons. Criminal justice debt is the primary source for this imprisonment.

Criminal justice debt includes fines, restitution charges, court costs, and fees. Monetary charges exist …

Newsroom: Freedman On Credit Reports 02-12-2016, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Preventing Preemption: Finding Space For States To Protect Consumers' Reputations, Elizabeth De Armond

All Faculty Scholarship

The Great Recession awoke state legislators to the power of individuals’ credit reports to hinder their economic opportunities. Many legislators would like to assuage the effects of bad historical events on the futures of the citizens that they represent. Among the topics they can address are employers’ use of credit reports, the presence of criminal record information in credit reports, and the toxic effects of identity theft and medical debt on credit reports. However, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act’s preemptive effects must be acknowledged and negotiated. This article evaluates potential state legislative efforts against the FCRA’s preemption provisions and …

Preventing Preemption: Finding Freedom For States To Protect Their Citizens’ Personal History Information, Elizabeth De Armond

All Faculty Scholarship

The Great Recession awoke state legislators to the power of individuals’ credit reports to hinder their economic opportunities. Many legislators would like to assuage the effects of bad historical events on the futures of the citizens that they represent. Among the topics they can address are employers’ use of credit reports, the presence of criminal record information in credit reports, and the toxic effects of identity theft and medical debt on credit reports. However, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act’s preemptive effects must be acknowledged and negotiated. This article evaluates potential state legislative efforts against the FCRA’s preemption provisions and …

Stopping Deceptive Health Claims: The Need For A Private Right Of Action Under Federal Law, Diane Hoffmann, Jack Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

This is the accepted version of the article. The final published version is available at

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0098858816644715

You As A Brand: A Legal History, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

Dr. Samantha Barbas’ book, Laws of Image: Privacy and Publicity in America, makes an original, important, and engaging contribution to the history of the privacy law in the United States. In the process, the book illuminates how we became a culture obsessed with image management and how the law developed and continues to evolve to protect our rights to become our own personal brands.

The Secession Of The Successful: The Rise Of Amazon As Private Global Consumer Protection Regulator, Jane K. Winn

Articles

In 2005, the Americans for Fair Electronic Commerce Transactions (“AFFECT”) coalition issued a list of 12 principles it hoped would contribute to a new consensus about what constitutes fairness in online consumer transactions. A decade later, a cursory review of different jurisdictions indicates that, while there has been little discernable progress in the direction of the principles in the United States, other jurisdictions such as the European Union have made more progress.

However, the one jurisdiction in the world that comes closest to implementing all 12 principles across the full spectrum of consumer transactions is not a government at all, …

The Reciprocal Of Macpherson V. Buick Motor Company, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A New Governance Recipe For Food Safety Regulation, Alexia Brunet Marks

Publications

Although food safety is a significant and increasing global health concern, international economic law does not adequately address today’s global food safety needs. While most countries rely on a collection of formalized legal rules to protect food safety, these rules too often fall short. As fiscal constraints impede raising the number of border inspections, formal international commitments (treaties) frequently limit governmental efforts to raise food safety standards. Private companies, meanwhile, can readily adopt higher standards to meet consumer demands and supply chain needs, thus demonstrating more nimbleness and flexibility in adopting the highest food safety standards available. Can countries learn …

Use Of Facial Recognition Technology For Medical Purposes: Balancing Privacy With Innovation, Seema Mohapatra

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Notion And Practice Of Reputation And Professional Identity In Social Networking: From K-12 Through Law School, Roberta Bobbie Studwell

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Individual Licensing Models And Consumer Protection, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Copyright law is not primarily directed at consumers. Their interests are therefore only marginally accounted for, as the copyright rules exempt specific uses of works from the right holder’s control. This chapter examines the impact of digital technology on the position of consumers of licensed copyrighted content. While ownership of the physical embodiment of a work does not entail the ownership of the rights in the work, how does copyright law deal with ‘disembodied’ works? Whereas digital content is now commonly distributed on the basis of individual licensing schemes, what does it mean for consumers? Do they have a claim …

Saturns For Rickshaws: Lessons For Consumer Arbitration And Access To Justice, Peter B. Rutledge

Scholarly Works

Companies are increasingly requiring consumers to agree to arbitrate disputes they may have over the products or services they purchase. Pre-dispute arbitration agreements are controversial especially for consumer disputes, where, it is feared, consumers will not represent themselves and neither will lawyers come forward because of the small stakes involved in individual claims. Dean Rutledge addresses in this chapter whether consumer arbitration processes can be designed to provide greater access to justice for consumers.

From Promise To Form: How Contracting Online Changes Consumers, David A. Hoffman

All Faculty Scholarship

I hypothesize that different experiences with online contracting have led some consumers to see contracts—both online and offline—in distinctive ways. Experimenting on a large, nationally representative sample, this paper provides evidence of age-based and experience-based differences in views of consumer contract formation and breach. I show that younger subjects who have entered into more online contracts are likelier than older ones to think that contracts can be formed online, that digital contracts are legitimate while oral contracts are not, and that contract law is unforgiving of breach.

I argue that such individual differences in views of contract formation and enforceability …

Collection Texas-Style: An Analysis Of Consumer Collection Practices In And Out Of The Courts, Mary B. Spector, Ann Badour

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

As many as forty-four percent of Texans with credit files have non-mortgage debt in collection; this is more than ten percent above the national average. The Authors provide a snapshot of collection practices employed in Texas over a two-year period following the enactment of new court rules governing the litigation of most collection cases. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, they consider data in three general categories:

(1) consumer complaints to the state and federal agencies;

(2) court outcomes over a two-year period along with related demographic data; and

(3) court observations conducted in five counties with a …

The Neo-Liberal Turn In Environmental Regulation, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Regulation has taken a neoliberal turn, using market-based mechanisms to achieve social benefits, especially in the context of environmental protection, and promoting information dissemination, labeling, and advertising to influence consumer preferences. Although this turn to neoliberal environmental regulation is well under way, there have been few attempts to manage this new reality. Instead, most commentators simply applaud or criticize the turn. If relying on neoliberal environmental reform (i.e., facing this reality regardless of one’s view of this turn), regulation and checks on these reforms are required. This Article argues that in light of the shift from traditional to neoliberal “substantive” …

Hurrah For The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consumer Arbitration As A Poster Child For Regulation, Jean R. Sternlight

Scholarly Works

Drawing on economic, psychological and philosophical considerations, this Essay considers whether consumers should be "free" to "agree" to contractually trade their opportunity to litigate in a class action for the opportunity to bring an arbitration claim against a company. The Essay suggests that by looking at the CFPB's regulation through these three lenses, one sees that the regulation is desirable—even a poster child—for the potential value of regulation when market forces are not sufficient to protect individual or public interests.