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
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
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
The CFPB has announced that it will hold a field hearing in Albuquerque, New Mexico about arbitration on May 5, 2016. We expect the field hearing to coincide with the release of the CFPB’s proposed rule on the use of...more
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
An article on consumer arbitration in this week’s Sunday New York Times concludes that “[b]y inserting individual arbitration clauses into a soaring number of consumer and employment contracts, companies… devised a way to...more
11/3/2015
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
New York Times
The CFPB has now taken two more significant steps towards issuing a proposed arbitration rule. On October 20, 2015, the CFPB convened its Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) panel to review the...more
In his remarks today to the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board, Director Cordray denigrated arbitration agreements as a “free pass” that allows companies to “sidestep the legal system, avoid big refunds, and continue to pursue...more
In a blog post earlier this week, Professor Jeff Sovern took issue with statements made by a legal expert that suggest an amendment to the Federal Arbitration Act would be necessary for the CFPB to ban class action waivers in...more
A debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) when it filed a summary judgment motion in a collection action after the debtor had sought enforcement of a credit card agreement’s arbitration...more
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
On Tuesday, September 29, Director Cordray will testify once again before the House Committee on Financial Services at 10 am. The Hearing is entitled “The Semi-Annual Report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection”....more
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
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
Weighing in on an issue that has divided the federal courts of appeals, the Second Circuit has held that under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), a court that grants a motion to compel arbitration of all claims must stay the...more
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 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
Key members of the CFPB’s enforcement, regulatory and supervision offices spoke yesterday at PLI’s 20th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in Chicago. As was the case during the New York City version which took...more
On March 23, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, agreeing to resolve a split between the Ninth Circuit and California state courts on how to interpret the same DirecTV arbitration...more
In its study of consumer arbitration dated March 10th, the CFPB concluded that relatively few consumer arbitrations have been filed. In a recent Consumer Law & Policy blog, Professor Jeff Sovern states that he is “skeptical”...more