A divided California Supreme Court has held that an arbitrator, rather than a court, should determine whether an arbitration clause in an employment agreement allows employees to bring their claims in arbitration on a...more
The U.S. Department of Education has issued a proposed rule that includes a ban on mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements by schools receiving Title IV assistance under the Higher Education Act (HEA) and a new federal...more
Conflicting decisions issued within one week of each other from the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits exemplify the ongoing debate in circuit courts across the country about the enforceability of...more
6/9/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
D.R. Horton v NLRB ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Section 7
A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal is a “must read” for those who will be affected if the CFPB’s May 5, 2016 proposed rule banning class action waivers in consumer financial services arbitration agreements becomes...more
5/23/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Service Contracts ,
Wall Street Journal
As widely anticipated, the CFPB announced at its field hearing today in Albuquerque, New Mexico that it is proposing regulations that would prohibit covered providers of certain consumer financial products and services from...more
Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced at a field hearing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that it is proposing regulations that would prohibit covered providers of certain consumer financial products...more
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness has sent a letter to Director Cordray suggesting a series of issues for Mr. Cordray to address in his prepared remarks at the CFPB’s field hearing on...more
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of complete relief does not moot a plaintiff's individual claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third...more
4/8/2016
/ Article III ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk ,
Mootness ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement Offer ,
Standing ,
TCPA
At a presentation on February 18, 2016 to the American Constitution Society, CFPB Director Richard Cordray devoted most of his remarks to the subject of consumer arbitration. Director Cordray revealed that the effect on...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an unaccepted Rule 68 settlement offer does not moot a class action even when the offer would provide the named plaintiff with complete individual relief. The decision in Campbell-Ewald...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an unaccepted Rule 68 settlement offer does not moot a class action even when the offer would provide the named plaintiff with complete individual relief. The decision in Campbell-Ewald...more
Resolving a split between the California Court of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit concerning the enforceability of the same DirectTV arbitration agreement, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the California Court of Appeal’s...more
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez on October 14, 2015, an important case presenting the question of whether a defendant can defeat a class action by offering complete individual relief...more
10/23/2015
/ Article III ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Collective Actions ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FRCP 23 ,
Genesis HealthCare ,
Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk ,
Mootness ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Offer of Judgment ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Statutory Damages ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Summary Judgment ,
TCPA
Today, the CFPB announced at a field hearing in Denver, Colorado that it is considering proposing rules that would prohibit consumer financial services companies from using class action waivers in consumer arbitration...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is considering proposing rules that would prohibit consumer financial services companies from using class action waivers in consumer arbitration clauses, the CFPB announced...more
10/8/2015
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Class Certification ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
SCOTUS ,
Small Business
Recently, Professor Jeff Sovern sent an email to the editor of the Consumer Financial Services Law Report commenting on an article we published in the August 9, 2015 issue of the Report titled, “CFPB Makes Consumer...more
We have previously blogged about the comment letter concerning the CFPB’s March 10, 2015 Study on consumer arbitration that we submitted to the CFPB on behalf of the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers...more
Just two months before the U.S. Supreme Court hears argument in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, two federal circuit court panels have ruled on jurisdictional issues presented in the case. Both the Seventh Circuit in Chapman v....more
8/19/2015
/ Article III ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
EFTA ,
Electronic Fund Transfer Act ,
FRCP 23 ,
Genesis HealthCare ,
Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk ,
Jurisdiction ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
TCPA
In a recent blog post, Professor Jeff Sovern responded to our blog post indicating that the CFPB’s March 10, 2014 Arbitration Study strongly supports the industry’s view that consumers fare better in arbitration than...more
The California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Sanchez v. Valencia Holding Company, LLC, on August 3, 2015, reversing a finding by the Court of Appeal that an arbitration provision was unconscionable...more
8/12/2015
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Best Practices ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
CLRA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Putative Class Actions ,
SCOTUS ,
Unconscionable Contracts
The American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association and The Financial Services Roundtable (Associations) have filed a joint letter commenting on the final results of the CFPB’s arbitration study released in...more
A mandatory arbitration provision is enforceable even when not contained within the four corners of a retail installment sales contract between a consumer and an automobile dealer, Maryland's highest court has ruled....more
A new empirical study of approximately 5,000 American Arbitration Association (AAA) consumer arbitrations conducted between 2009 and 2013 purports to find a “repeat player” effect favoring companies that previous researchers,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced its decision to retain a ban on mandatory arbitration provisions in warranty claims made under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA). The FTC’s decision was announced in...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide a case that could alter the landscape of federal class action litigation. Granting the defendant’s petition for certiorari in Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez, the Court will review...more