Consumer Law

New York’s Second Effort to Require Fast-Food Calorie Listings Is Upheld

New York City has revised its fast-food calorie posting rules to the satisfaction of a federal judge. The new regulations upheld yesterday require calorie counts to be posted next to prices in any restaurant chain with more than 15 outlets nationwide, the New York Times reports. U.S. District Judge Richard…

Apr 17, 2008 12:26 PM CDT

Is Retail Civil Recovery Getting Out of Hand?

Civil recovery, now an available recourse for retailers in all 50 states, is turning the bedrock legal concept of innocent until proven guilty on its head. So says a New York Daily News consumer columnist, who notes that critics complain that the country’s civil recovery process, left unchecked, has become…

Apr 9, 2008 1:13 PM CDT

New Cash Register Receipts Law Rings Up Class Action Bonanza

A new federal law that requires merchants to remove from cash register receipts private information such as more than five digits of a credit card number apparently may have caught some major companies napping. Some 300 class actions have been filed during the 16 months since since the Fair and…

Apr 7, 2008 10:07 PM CDT

JuicyCampus on ‘Absurd’ AG Probes: We Don’t Have to Enforce Our Rules

An anonymous campus gossip website that is now the subject of at least two state attorney general investigations has responded to claims that it may have violated its own terms and conditions by providing a bulletin board for allegedly malicious, defamatory and potentially harmful posts. The site has violated no…

Mar 27, 2008 7:14 PM CDT

Another State AG Probes JuicyCampus Gossip Website

Updated: The attorney general of Connecticut is following the lead of his New Jersey counterpart and has launched an unusual investigation of an anonymous campus gossip website on a cutting-edge consumer legal theory. And a California lawmaker is suggesting a similar investigation by the AG in his home state. Richard…

Mar 25, 2008 5:53 PM CDT

There Ought to be a Law Against Spoofing, Fla. Legislators Say

Think that phone number you’re seeing on caller ID has to be the real thing? Think again. So-called spoofers can easily substitute a legitimate personal or business number in place of the one they’re really calling from, in order to trick those receiving their calls for a wide variety of…

Mar 21, 2008 8:36 PM CDT

N.J. Prosecutors Investigate JuicyCampus Site

In what may be the first such investigation in the nation, prosecutors in New Jersey reportedly are investigating a controversial no-holds-barred college campus gossip website for possible consumer law violations. The state’s attorney general and Division of Consumer Affairs have subpoenaed the website owner and advertisers, seeking information about how…

Mar 19, 2008 9:26 PM CDT

Hot Topic Post-Bear Stearns: Investment Safety Rules

After seeing the value of one of the nation’s investment banking giants plummet disastrously virtually overnight this week, investors are now wondering about the safety of assets held in brokerage accounts. But there is little likelihood that their assets are at risk, at least as far as accounts that don’t…

Mar 18, 2008 9:12 PM CDT

Small Pa. Law Firm Hit With $5.2M Overbilling Judgment

A Pennsylvania judge has ordered a small practitioner to pay a $5.2 million judgment, including $1 million in punitive damages, for charging unlawful attorney fees while collecting delinquent municipal and school district property taxes. Ruling in an unjust enrichment case, Judge Mark Bernstein of the Court of Common Pleas held…

Mar 17, 2008 7:27 PM CDT

Two Florida Lawyers Accused of Making ‘Sham’ Claims for Credit Card Holders

Two Florida lawyers and their affiliated firms are accused in a lawsuit of making “sham” claims on behalf of consumers seeking to avoid payment of credit card debt. The suit by Chase Bank claims the lawyers falsely tell customers that the credit card company violated the federal Fair Credit Billing…

Mar 6, 2008 1:42 PM CST

Class Action Filed Against Comcast for File-Sharing Slowdowns

A class action lawsuit filed last week against Comcast claims the cable giant misled consumers when it ran ads touting its Internet connection as the fastest and its access to content as “unfettered.” The suit, filed on behalf of Washington, D.C., consumers, claims Comcast blocks or impedes access to peer-to-peer…

Feb 28, 2008 2:57 PM CST

Worried Lenders Watch for Appellate Ruling in Mortgage Class Action

A federal appeals court will soon decide a closely watched case that seeks to undo mortgage loans that are based on mistakes in disclosure documents. A Wisconsin couple is seeking class action status for their suit filed a few years ago against Chevy Chase Bank. Worried lenders fear a negative…

Feb 27, 2008 4:46 PM CST

Landmark Mass. Ruling: Subprime Lender Can’t Unfairly Foreclose

In what is being hailed as a landmark ruling, a Massachusetts judge has prohibited a subprime mortgage lender from foreclosing on an entire class of “structurally unfair” loans there before checking with the state attorney general and taking “reasonable steps” to avoid this outcome. Issuing a preliminary injunction sought by…

Feb 26, 2008 11:16 PM CST

Excessive-Fees Case Focuses on Lawyer’s Media Strategy in Murder Trial

A criminal defense attorney on trial in Texas for allegedly overcharging his client in a high-profile murder case was accused in opening statements today of focusing on his own publicity to the detriment of defendant Clara Harris. Television camera crews conducted interviews and filmed the murder trial preparation, under an…

Feb 20, 2008 11:48 PM CST

Payday Lenders Flout Law on Seizing Gov’t. Benefits, Newspaper Says

Under federal law, creditors aren’t supposed to be able to seize social security payments, or disability or veterans benefits to pay a debt, and the government won’t send their checks directly to creditors. But at least some payday lenders have found a way around those prohibitions, and are now targeting…

Feb 13, 2008 12:03 AM CST