In the News

With the ubiquitous use of credit cards, online purchases, and a myriad of other electronic transactions, American consumers can do little to prevent their personal and financial information from ending up on the Corporate Cloud. Instead, it’s up to the corporations to protect consumers’ information – but the almost daily reports of data breaches suggest that they are failing to take necessary precautions.

Today, a coalition of state Attorneys General, government entities, and advocates for servicemembers and consumers will observe Military Consumer Protection Day.

The civil justice system exposed GM’s decade-long corporate cover-up and as the public and Congress demand full accountability, GM must honor its commitment 'to do the right thing' by fully compensating all victims for their losses and not impeding victims’ access to justice through the courts.

When corporations act irresponsibly and government regulatory agencies fail to protect the public, the last resort for Americans to seek accountability is in our courts. The American civil justice system is in place to enforce safety standards, reveal dangerous defects, and hold corporations accountable when their products kill and injure Americans.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure matter. They can determine who wins and who loses. And they have been changing in the wrong direction for some time. Now, proposed rule changes are moving forward and three things are clear: they are much better than what was originally proposed, they are still disturbing, and they demonstrate the critical importance of the Federal Rules process and access to justice advocates’ participation in it.

On a typical morning, 6:30 a.m. rolls around and the kids head downstairs. My daughter and I will often grab a box of Chex cereal for breakfast. Many of the Chex cereals have become a favorite in our house because most of them are both nut free and gluten free. You see, my daughter has a nut allergy, and I cannot eat gluten. With these food restrictions, it can be difficult to find foods that our whole family can enjoy, and Chex cereal is a family favorite.

eBay, the billion-dollar online auction company, has been hit with the second largest data breach in history, with more than 145 million users affected, the New York Times reported on Thursday. Although eBay insists that users’ financial information is safe, it confirmed that hackers were able to steal personal information including names, birth dates, email addresses, and passwords which could be used for identity theft. 

Unfortunately, victims may find that they cannot hold the tech giant accountable in court because of a forced arbitration clause buried in eBay's terms of service. 

Tech companies like eBay use forced arbitration clauses to evade privacy laws because they allow the company to kick violated users out of court and instead funnel them into a rigged forum run by an arbitrator selected by the company. This arbitrator is not required to have any legal training and does not even have to follow the law.

Today, the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Improve Transparency and Accountability at the CFPB”