Law Commons^™

Consumer Bankruptcy Should Be Increasingly Irrelevant - Why Isn't It?, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

There are important reasons why consumer bankruptcy remains relevant, even if consumers’ and bankruptcy’s interests have diverged. Some of these reasons suggest that it is more relevant than ever. The remainder of this response overviews the place consumer bankruptcy presently occupies in the United States. In doing so, I detail why consumer bankruptcy remains relevant in the face of a socio-economic structure and of laws that suggest that bankruptcy may not be a particularly useful place for struggling Americans to turn to for help. The response ends by calling for a bolder vision for consumer bankruptcy in light of the …

Consumer Bankruptcy Panel: Bringing Relevance Back To Consumer Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey, Daniel Keating, David A. Lander, Nathalie Martin, Sage M. Sigler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A New Deal For Debtors: Providing Procedural Justice In Consumer Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Across the criminal and civil justice systems, research regarding procedural justice — feeling that one has a voice, is respected, and is before a neutral and even-handed adjudicator — shows that people’s positive perceptions of legal processes are fundamental to the legal system’s effectiveness and to the rule of law. About a million people file bankruptcy every year, making the consumer bankruptcy system the part of the federal court system with which people most often come into contact. Given the importance of bankruptcy to American families and the credit economy, there should exist a rich literature theorizing and investigating how …

Access To Consumer Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This essay examines the state of access to justice in the context of consumer bankruptcy from two vantage points: (1) how people decide that their money problems are legal problems addressable by filing bankruptcy; and (2) the barriers people face in using the consumer bankruptcy system. To shed new light on how people decide to use bankruptcy to address their financial troubles, I analyze a sample of narratives accompanying consumers' complaints about financial products and services submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I also chronicle the evolution of research regarding consumer bankruptcy’s “local legal culture,” systemic racial bias, and …

Consumer Credit In America: Past, Present, And Future, Pamela Foohey, Jim Hawkins, Creola Johnson, Nathalie Martin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In September 2016, in conjunction with Law & Contemporary Problems at Duke University School of Law, we organized a symposium on Consumer Credit in America. We sought to assess the state of consumer credit in America — to review and examine its recent history, to consider arguments for and against regulation, and to discuss the potential for future innovation. This is the introduction to the volume of articles coming out of that symposium.

"No Money Down" Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless, Katherine Porter, Deborah Thorne

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article reports on a breakdown in access to justice in bankruptcy, a system from which one million Americans will seek help this year. A crucial decision for these consumers will be whether to file a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy. Nearly every aspect of their bankruptcies — both the benefits and the burdens of debt relief — will be different in chapter 7 versus chapter 13. Almost all consumers will hire a bankruptcy attorney. Because they must pay their attorneys, many consumers will file chapter 13 to finance their access to the law, rather than because they prefer …

Calling On The Cfpb For Help: Telling Stories And Consumer Protection, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Since it began operating in 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has handled more than a million complaints regarding consumer financial product and services. Beginning in June 2015, the CFPB began publishing consumers’ narratives submitted with their complaints. This Article analyses a random sample of 5,000 of these narratives to assess how people engage with the complaint mechanism in light of the CFPB’s role in processing complaints. I find that people predominately use the complaint function for two distinct purposes: to express their anger and frustration about companies’ practices, or to express sadness and fear about how companies’ practices …

Cooling-Off And Secondary Markets: Consumer Choice In The Digital Domain, Michael Mattioli

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article studies the law and economics of cooling-off periods and secondary markets for online media. The discussion is fueled by a current debate: In July 2009, the online retail juggernaut, Amazon.com, remotely deleted literary classics from consumers’ portable “Kindle” reading devices. The public outcry and class-action lawsuit that followed have reinvigorated an ongoing debate about how much control digital media distributors should wield. Pundits and plaintiffs argue that too often, digital distributors like Amazon impair consumer freedom by misusing Digital Rights Management (DRM) software systems. However, these same systems could also provide significant benefits that have largely gone ignored. …

Information Security Breaches And The Threat To Consumers, Fred H. Cate

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Opt-In Privacy Rules On Retail Credit Markets: A Case Study Of Mbna, Fred H. Cate, Michael Staten

Articles by Maurer Faculty

U.S. privacy laws are increasingly moving from a presumption that consumers must object to ("opt out" of) uses of personal data they wish to prohibit to a requirement that they must explicitly consent ("opt in") to uses they wish to permit. Despite the growing reliance on opt-in rules, there has been little empirical research on their costs. This Article examines the impact of opt-in on MBNA Corporation, a diversified, multinational financial institution. The authors demonstrate that opt-in would raise account acquisition costs and lower profits, reduce the supply of credit and raise credit card prices, generate more offers to uninterested …

Bankruptcy In The Seventh Circuit: 1996, Douglass G. Boshkoff

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. How Consumer Remedies Fail, Bryant G. Garth

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Consumer Actions Against Unfair Or Deceptive Acts Or Practices: The Private Uses Of Federal Trade Commission Jurisprudence, Marshall A. Leaffer, Michael H. Lipson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

State Consumer Protection In A Federal System, Robert M. O'Neil

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Increasing interest in consumerism has brought intensified efforts at every level of government to protect the consumer. While federal regulation seems desirable for nationally marketed products and interstate activities, the states retain the duty to protect the health and safety of their citizens. Where state regulation is more restrictive than concurrent federal regulation, however, the constitutional issue of preemption arises.

This Article analyzes the factors which have influenced the courts in resolving conflicts between federal and state regulation in the consumer field. Emphasizing the need for concurrent regulation, the author formulates guidelines by which the courts can examine the purposes …

Cure And Revocation For Quality Defects: The Utility Of Bargains, Alan Schwartz

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Optimality And The Cutoff Of Defenses Against Financers Of Consumer Sales, Alan Schwartz

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Abc's Of Products Liability -- With A Close Look At Section 402a And The Code, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Consumer As King: The Economics Of Precarious Sovereignty, Robert L. Birmingham

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Food Products Liability, F. Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Basis Of Strict Products Liability, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This paper was presented before the Division of Food Drug Cosmetic Law, Section of Corporation, Banking and Business Law of the American Bar Association at the Annual Meeting in St. Louis, August 9. It Is a companion paper to "Restatement or Reformation?" by William J. Condon, which appeared in the August, 1961 issue of this magazine. Mr. Dickerson Is Professor of Law at Indiana University and author of Products Liability and the Food Consumer.

The Expanding Risks Of Products Liability, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Group Interests In The Field Of Food Law, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Sales: Buyer's Rights And Remedies For Defective Quality Of F.O.B. Shipments, Sheldon J. Plager

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Consumer Protection And The Public Interest, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Liability Of Retail Dealers For Defective Food Products, Robert C. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Significant Changes In Public Utility Law, Hugh Evander Willis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.