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The Federal Reserve Board recently approved a final rule to protect credit card users from unreasonable late payment and other penalty fees. The rule also requires credit card issuers to reconsider any interest rate increases imposed since the beginning of 2009. The final rule represents the third stage of the […]

North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed into law the Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act. The Act is intended to provide important protections to those at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. Such distressed homeowners are too often victimized by foreclosure rescue scams. The Act provides that it is unlawful […]

Here’s a break from the generally serious tone of our blogs. The Consumer Attorneys of California recently produced a video entitled ‘A World Without Lawyers.’ The video dispels myths about lawyers and highlights the important role lawyers serve in protecting consumers. We’re not only fighting in court against the powerful […]

Over the last two weeks, our firm represented a man who lost his leg in a workplace injury. Everyone agreed the workplace was exceedingly dangerous. Worker’s compensation paid for his medical bills and provided him with a modest income for a period of time. Eventually, our client settled with his […]

This week, we celebrate 20 years of protection and opportunities made possible by the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA. On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law, which makes it more possible for Americans with disabilities to meaningfully participate in our society […]

This month, President Obama signed into law the most important financial and consumer protection law in years as part of Congress’s Wall Street reform legislation. The Wall Street reform legislation contains many provisions designed to prevent future taxpayer-funded bailouts and curb unfair tactics banks perpetrate on consumers. Important aspects of […]

In an opinion issued April 27, 2010, the United States Supreme Court held that arbitrators could not allow class arbitration where an arbitration clause is silent as to whether class arbitration is permitted. The decision in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. Animalfeeds Int’l Corp. is a significant blow to consumers and class […]

Two Countrywide mortgage servicing companies have agreed to pay $108 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) charges that they collected excessive fees from homeowners whose loans Countrywide serviced. The $108 million settlement represents one of the largest judgments imposed in an FTC case. The funds will be used to […]

The United States Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case in which the issue to be decided is whether companies may permissibly ban class actions in their “take-it-or-leave-it” contracts. The case is AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, and it will be heard at the Supreme Court later this year. The […]

The colossal environmental disaster brewing in the Gulf of Mexico has eclipsed another tragic story related to April 20, 2010, BP oil rig explosion: the rig workers. The survivors and families of the 11 workers who were killed are now finding out that their recovery is limited by federal law […]