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Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule
FEATURED
August 19, 2025
Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule
By: Robert Ward
California law has often tested just how much room the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) leaves for states to regulate consumer arbitration agreements. Last week, in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court,[1] the California Supreme Court determined that at least one claimant-favoring provision of the California Arbitration Act (CAA), California Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.98 comes close to, but does not cross, that line. At the same time, to avoid preemption, the court offered businesses some relief from the unforgiving interpretation applied by many California courts. Section 1281.98 requires the party who drafts an arbitration agreement—in the consumer context, the company—to pay all required fees within thirty days of receiving the arbitration provider’s invoice.[2] If the company fails to pay the fees…
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Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws
July 30, 2025
Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws
By: Nicole Kardell
Note the below chart was updated on July 24, 2025 to reflect recent developments. The number of U.S. states that have adopted privacy laws grows regularly. Fortunately, there seems to be quite a bit of crossover, at least when it comes to thresholds that companies must meet in order to trigger compliance requirements. We provide below a chart that summarizes these thresholds by state, including…
Fame, FTC, and Fine Print: Navigating Advertising Rules in an Evolving Landscape
May 12, 2025
Fame, FTC, and Fine Print: Navigating Advertising Rules in an Evolving Landscape
By: Abbey Block
Ryan Seacrest is most well-known for his role as the charismatic host of popular television shows like American Idol and Wheel of Fortune. But more recently, Seacrest has taken on a new business venture, becoming the spokesperson for the social casino platform, Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino, launched in 2012, allows players to engage in online casino-style games. Seacrest began his partnership with the brand in…
Amazon Pursued Fake Reviews In 2015, What Will It Pursue In 2016?
December 28, 2015
Amazon Pursued Fake Reviews In 2015, What Will It Pursue In 2016?
By: Steven Eichorn
In 2015, Amazon filed suit against over 1,000 unnamed individuals for allegedly offering to sell fake online reviews (positive or negative) on Fiverr.com (“Fiverr”). The unnamed defendants offer to provide 5-star reviews and some defendants even encourage sellers to provide their own text to use in the review. In order to avoid detection, defendants offer to submit reviews from multiple IP addresses, utilize multiple…
Will The Floodgates Open As Consumer Backlash To Spam Unleashes?
December 23, 2015
Will The Floodgates Open As Consumer Backlash To Spam Unleashes?
By: Ifrah Law
Every e-mail user receives them, some days in numbers hitting the triple digit mark – those targeted, often annoying and unsolicited e-mails that clog our inboxes, originating from any of a multitude of establishments, including retailers, service establishments, and even our own social media. Regulation over unwanted e-mails has been limited mostly to the federal Can Spam Act of 2003, which doesn’t prohibit the…
Highlights And Takeaways from the October 30th FTC Lead Generation Workshop
November 3, 2015
Highlights And Takeaways from the October 30th FTC Lead Generation Workshop
By: Nicole Kardell
Exploiting consumers and exploiting consumer data were popular themes in the FTC’s October 30th workshop on lead generation, “Follow the Lead.” The day-long workshop explored the mechanics of lead generation and its role in the online marketplace. With a focus on the lending and education spaces, panelists discussed the many layers of marketing involved in lead generation—and importantly—how those many layers can add confusion…
Jumping To Judgment on For-Profit Education
October 15, 2015
Jumping To Judgment on For-Profit Education
By: Nicole Kardell
If you didn’t know any better, you might have gotten pretty fiery over for-profit education after reading one of the front page stories of Tuesday’s New York Times. The lengthy article titled “For-Profit Colleges Fail Standards, but Get Billions” is all about accusations of greedy institutions bilking taxpayers and taking advantage of students through fraud and other deceptive practices. Why the story ran on…
TCPA Trouble Continues: FCC Slams Lyft and First National Bank for Terms of Service Requiring Consent
September 16, 2015
TCPA Trouble Continues: FCC Slams Lyft and First National Bank for Terms of Service Requiring Consent
By: Michelle Cohen
Most of the attention involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) has centered on the stream of class actions around the country. It is important to remember that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and state attorney generals can, and do, enforce the TCPA. In fact, the FCC recently issued citations to Lyft, the ride-sharing service, and First National Bank (“FNB”). Under the Communications Act,…
