You Should Know

Important Considerations For Student Loan Co-Signers

American consumers owe more than $150 billion in outstanding private student loan debt.  For some fortunate enough to have a family member with a solid credit history to co-sign on those loans, ...

Supreme Court Puts Securities Class Actions on the Chopping Block

On Friday the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that threatens to kill securities class actions. Petitioners in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. have asked the Court to reconsider a ...

Proposed FDA Rule Allows Generic Drug Manufacturers to Update Labeling

After much anticipation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken action to place responsibility on generic drug manufacturers to provide adequate warnings to consumers, and hold ...

Sixth Circuit Reviews Classwide Arbitration

In Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Crockett, Case No. 12-3574, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck yet another blow to consumers whose contracts of adhesion force arbitration ...

JP Morgan Chase Expected to Pay Record Settlement

The story of banking giant JP Morgan Chase’s $13 billion settlement has been in heavy rotation on network and cable news outlets this week, as it should be. This settlement is the largest ever ...

A Proposed Change to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Addressing Spoliation of Evidence

The problem is familiar: a party fails to preserve some document or thing that would have been discoverable under the Rules, and possible evidence is lost. Years ago, these spoliation of ...

A Hero

I just finished a book about our profession at its very best. The book is Devil in the Grove, by Gilbert King.  A 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for Non-Fiction, Devil in the Grove tells the story ...

Utter Lunacy: Supreme Court strips individuals of their right to vindicate their claims in court, and Congress is in no hurry to un-do the damage

Building upon the absurd precedent created in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, this past Thursday, the Supreme Court issued an opinion which held that mandatory, binding arbitration clauses and ...

Congress Asks SEC to Enforce Consumer Protections

Congress does not have the reputation lately of working for the people. Stalemates between Republicans and Democrats continue to halt progress in both bodies of Congress. However, amidst their ...

Pro-Consumer Initiatives: Lobbying and Litigation

In the weeks leading up to his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama was surely inundated with reports, requests, and letters from various advocacy groups urging him to not only ...

Hall of Shame: Chinese Chicken Jerky Dog Treats and the FDA

For years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has been investigating a possible contamination in chicken jerky dog treats. The investigation began in 2007 (on the heels of the massive ...

Innovator Liability Opens Doors to Recovery for Generic Drug Consumers

After the U.S. Supreme Court decided PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing in 2011, generic drug users were left searching for possible avenues of legal recovery after incurring injury.  The Mensing decision, ...