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The SEC Signs on to Arbitration
FEATURED
September 29, 2025
The SEC Signs on to Arbitration
By: George Calhoun
Early last week, on September 17, 2025, the SEC announced that it will no longer consider the presence of a mandatory arbitration provision in a company’s charter or bylaws when deciding whether to accelerate the effectiveness of a registration statement. This policy shift will permit companies to include arbitration clauses in their governing documents to require securities litigants (including class action plaintiffs) to pursue their claims in arbitration proceedings rather than court cases. The decision leaves open how arbitration provisions might apply in direct actions versus derivative actions. Nonetheless, this could result in a significant reduction in private securities litigation. The SEC focused its decision on the recent trend in U.S. Supreme Court precedent concerning the Federal Arbitration Act and…
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Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule
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…
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…
Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold
February 12, 2025
Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold
By: Michelle Cohen
Newly installed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Director Russell Vought directed agency staff to stop work on agency matters and stay home. The future of many of the CFPB-led initiatives looks bleak, including a recent interpretive rule proposal that would treat video game publishers like payment processors. Background Congress created the CFPB, an independent federal agency, in 2011 in response to the financial crisis of…
Death of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration
February 11, 2025
Death of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration
By: George Calhoun
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has spent years trying to limit provisions that may be placed into consumer contracts, particularly with regard to class-action waivers, arbitration, and damages limitations. In 2015, the CFPB conducted a study of consumer arbitration clauses. Notably, the CFPB’s study found that few class action cases proceed to trial, but in those that do, trial lawyers make $1 million per…
Cancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder
January 15, 2025
Cancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder
By: Jordan Briggs
Drawn in by the appeal of steady revenue, nearly three-quarters of direct-to-consumer companies now include a subscription model.[1] Everything has a subscription these days: video games, groceries, dating apps—you can even subscribe to a service to cancel your other subscriptions.[2] These subscriptions were not deterred from joining their most prominent predecessor (the gym membership) as an age-old punchline about how hard they are to cancel….
Temporary relief from compliance obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act
December 5, 2024
Temporary relief from compliance obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act
By: Steven Eichorn
On December 3, 2024, a U.S. District Court[1] issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that enjoins the federal government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA)[2]. The CTA requires “reporting companies” in the United States to disclose basic identifying information about their beneficial owners — the individuals who ultimately own or control a company — to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The…
Will Free Speech Become Expensive for Big Tech?
December 2, 2024
Will Free Speech Become Expensive for Big Tech?
By: James Trusty
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act[1] is the federal law that allows internet platforms to host online content without fear of lawsuits based on third party content. In other words, for hosting free speech, internet providers are given immunity from liability if the speech somehow crosses the line from protected free speech into unprotected territory (defamatory, criminal solicitation, etc.). With the recent presidential and…
