In a June 2 decision, Judge Richard Posner, writing for a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, criticized a number of statements and other aspects within a notice of class action settlement that had been approved by the district court. In response to a number of objections
In a letter dated July 29, addressed to Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, two Republicans – Representative Jeb Hensarling, Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Mike Crapo, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs – continue to question the validity of the CFPB’s
TCPA litigation is running rampant in courts throughout the country. Automatic telephone dialing systems, or “ATDSs” or “autodialers”, are at the heart of virtually every TCPA case involving cell phones. Why? Because if a call to a person’s cell phone was not made with an ATDS as defined by the statute, there is virtually no
ABA State Attorneys General and Department of Justice Issues Committee – 2014 ABA Annual Meeting – Showcase CLE Presentations
On August 7-9, 2014, in Boston, MA, the American Bar Association is hosting their Annual Meeting. Two Troutman Sanders partners, William H. Hurd and Ashley L. Taylor, Jr., will be participating on high profile CLE panel
On August 7, FICO – the creator of one of the most widely used and influential credit scores – announced that it had recalibrated its credit scoring model to include a more nuanced way to assess consumer collection information, bypass paid collection agency accounts, and offer options to differentiate medical from non-medical collection agency accounts.
On August 8, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau admitted to the falsity of its August 6 allegations that two Midwestern credit unions marketed products and services to university students without adequately disclosing the deals’ terms. As it turned out, the credit unions had no agreements with the universities and were mistakenly targeted by the CFPB’s
Foot Locker Retail Inc. and Macy’s Corporate Services, Inc. were hit with separate class action lawsuits in California federal court alleging that the companies illegally collected consumers’ personal information at in-store checkouts. The plaintiffs claim that both businesses required customers to provide personal information such as telephone numbers, identification cards, and ZIP codes before processing
On July 22, National Economic Research Associates (“NERA”) Economic Consulting released a study entitled “Consumer Class Action Settlements: 2010-2013”. The study is available online here. This study concluded empirically what many businesses have been experiencing in practice: Consumer class action settlements have been increasing steadily in the years between 2010 and 2013.
NERA’s analysis
In Bock v. Pressler & Pressler, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that it is false and misleading, within the meaning of FDCPA, for an attorney to file an FDCPA lawsuit without having meaningfully reviewed the complaint. In granting summary judgment in favor of the consumer, the court
On July 30, the Third Circuit held that whether an arbitration agreement permits classwide arbitration is a question for courts, not arbitrators, to decide. Through its decision, the Third Circuit expressly aligned itself with a prior ruling to the same effect from the Sixth Circuit.
The Third Circuit reversed a 2011 decision of a district