Cordray to CFPB

It appears President Obama “will nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB),” according to my colleague Mark Calabria, who recounts Cordray’s mixed record on topics of business litigation (he withdrew an abusive lawsuit against lead-paint manufacturers, while also campaigning against foreclosures). Earlier coverage here.

P.S. Daniel Fisher at Forbes reports that securities class action lawyers appear to adore Cordray, to judge from his campaign finances. John Berlau finds him inclined toward heavy-handed regulation, while Neil Munro wonders about his data privacy defense record.

Filed under: banks, Ohio, securities litigation, Wall Street

July 18 roundup

Per New Jersey court, overly sedentary home office job can result in valid worker’s comp claim [Courier-Post, NJLRA]
Trial bar’s AAJ denies it played “direct” role in backing “Hot Coffee” [WaPo, some background]
“Cop repeatedly harasses waitresses, never disciplined. Feds defend their civil rights by . . . suing the restaurant.” [Palm Beach Post via Radley Balko]
On “unauthorized practice of law” as protective moat around profession’s interests, Britain does things differently [Gillian Hadfield via Andrew Sullivan; related, Larry Ribstein] Forthcoming book by Robert Crandall et al urges lawyer deregulation [Brookings]
“The Treaty Clause Doesn’t Give Congress Unlimited Power” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato on Golan v. Holder case headed to Supreme Court]
The small bank regulatory shakedown blues [Kevin Funnell] Why is the Department of Justice including gag orders as part of its enforcement decrees against banks on race and lending? [Investors Business Daily via PoL] “Emigrant fights back against mortgage-discrimination suits” [Fisher, Forbes] Dodd-Frank squeezing out community banks [Funnell]
“North Carolina to Seize Speeding Cars That Fail to Pull Over” [The Newspaper] “With what, a tractor beam?” [James Taranto]

Filed under: AAJ, banks, constitutional law, harassment law, hot coffee, international law, mortgages, New Jersey, North Carolina, traffic laws, workers' compensation

“What ‘Inside Job’ got wrong”

An accusatory film about the financial crisis glides over some inconvenient complications. [Ezra Klein, Washington Post]

Filed under: banks, Crisis of 2008, Wall Street

Informant at the next desk

Regulators “embed” in the financial industry [WSJ]. Coming to your business next?

Filed under: banks

February 17 roundup

Gender imbalance in Wikipedia and geographic bees? Find something else to worry about [Heather Mac Donald, Slate, via Secular Right; Perry] “On Equality: The Anti-Interference Principle” [Donald Kochan, Chapman, SSRN]
High-profile NY attorney suspended after “avalanche” of complaints [Turkewitz, more]
Credit unions vs. class action lawyers [Funnell]
Obligation to use club cards to facilitate recalls? CSPI’s strange lawsuit against Safeway [Goldfarb, Food Liability Law]
“Arkansas Justice Has a Generous Lawyer Friend, Disclosure Forms Reveal” [Weiss, ABA Journal]
NYC pols plan regulatory squeeze on popular inter-city “Chinatown bus” operators [DNAInfo, Reason]
“Kentucky appeals court reverses $42 million fen-phen fraud judgment” [Courier-Journal, PoL]
$1,500 per lead brought in: why you see so many mesothelioma ads on the web [three years ago on Overlawyered]

Filed under: Arkansas, banks, class actions, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, NYC

Product liability as model for consumer finance regulation?

Let’s hope it doesn’t unfold that way, says Richard Epstein [Truth on the Market]

P.S. It looks as if from Congress will accord lawyers and some other professionals an exemption from Federal Trade Commission regulations on identity theft that would have lumped them in with more traditional lenders because they often do not bill clients at the time work is performed. Fair enough, one supposes, but also another indication of the truism that one’s success in dodging nonsensical regulation is often a function of one’s status as a potent lobby in Washington.

Filed under: banks, debtor-creditor law, product liability, Richard Epstein

Money-laundering laws’ latest casualty: small embassies

I’ve got a new post up at Cato at Liberty about a snafu “embarrassing even by the standards of federal government foul-ups”: federal regulations intended to prevent “money laundering” are leading to dozens of mini-diplomatic crises as U.S. banks refuse to do business with smaller countries’ embassies for fear of tripping up under the regulations.

Filed under: banks

More financial crisis prosecutions?

Larry Ribstein is not persuaded by a ProPublica columnist’s demand for more banker scalps. [Truth on the Market]

Filed under: banks, prosecution

“Counsel shall not make any derogatory remarks generally about trial lawyers”

A breach-of-contract trial under way in D.C. this week “pits the trial lawyers group American Association for Justice against its would-be lender, Wachovia Bank.” [ABA Journal]

Filed under: AAJ, banks, lawyers

October 7 roundup

Lawsuit of the Day: Partner Booted From Three Firms Sues ‘Em All! [Legal Blog Watch]
Drawing wrong lessons from the Rutgers suicide [Greenfield and more (proposed “Tyler’s Law”), John Schwartz/NYT (quoting Orin Kerr), Volokh and more, Above the Law]
John Sullivan leaving after 15 years at helm of Civil Justice Association of California [L.A. Times]
Maybe consumers don’t feel so victimized by overdraft “protection” after all [Bank Lawyer’s Blog]

DahliaCrateLabel

Yes, it’s another dust-up pitting all sensible Supreme Court commentators against Dahlia Lithwick, if you like that sort of thing [Kerr, Bodie/Prawfs, Ponnuru, Frank; bonus, Richard Epstein on Erwin Chemerinsky and Hans Bader on a prize flight of Lithwick fancy]
Blog post relatively sympathetic to Righthaven copyright trollery draws many responses [Robert Zelnick, Patently-O]
“Should they have let the guy’s house burn down?” [Tyler Cowen; Firey, Cato]
“Drunken man passes out, wins $850K from police” [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Filed under: banks, bullying, Dahlia Lithwick, fire departments, online speech, RightHaven, Supreme Court