Contract by Emoji
EMOJIS CAN SIGNAL YOUR INTENT! A judge in Israel ruled against a couple for misleading their prospective landlord via text. The judge found that a few emojis sent by the couple to the prospective landlord communicated an intent to rent and awarded the landlord $2,200 in small claims court. The...
Continue ReadingFraternity Hazing and University Liability
A fraternity ritual, also known as hazing, begins around 9 pm on February 2, 2017, at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Penn State University. At approximately 10:45 pm, after being forced to consume large amounts of alcohol, an intoxicated pledge, Timothy Piazza, falls down the basement steps at his...
Continue ReadingThe Little Known Act that is a Huge Threat to Public Safety
On January 11, 2017, as the public focused on other topics such as healthcare reform and cabinet confirmations, the U.S. House of Representatives quietly passed the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017.[1] Contrary to its stated purpose of streamlining regulations and eliminating red-tape, the act would make it nearly impossible to...
Continue ReadingContributory Negligence in Alabama
Laws can be complex and difficult to understand. Sometimes they make sense, and sometimes they do not. One confusing concept for a party that has been injured in Alabama is a legal theory called pure contributory negligence. In Alabama an injured person can recover money for their injuries from the...
Continue ReadingFDA Delays Rule on Generic Drug Labels Until 2017
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has again delayed a decision on whether generic drug makers will be held responsible for warning patients about the risks of their medications. This comes as a disappointment to trial lawyers and consumer groups who want to eliminate the legal loophole which prevents patients...
Continue ReadingConsumer Watchdog Agency Moves to End Forced Arbitration by Banks
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a proposal Wednesday to significantly curb the use of forced arbitration by banks and credit lenders. The move would affect banks, credit unions, credit card issuers, lenders (auto, payday, and auto title), installment and open-end lenders, private student lenders, debt settlement firms and buyers, and...
Continue ReadingSpotify Fine Print Chips Away Consumer Rights
Spotify, the popular online music streaming service, has introduced a new provision to its terms and conditions that further strips its users of their Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury. Buried in the fine print of the “terms and conditions of use” you agree to when signing up for...
Continue ReadingSerra Nissan General Manager Randy Visser Enters Plea Deal in Criminal Conspiracy Case
Serra Nissan General Manager Randy Visser has entered a guilty plea to criminal conspiracy charges involving wrongdoing at Serra Nissan. Visser was accused of defrauding Nissan North America by falsifying sales reports in a scheme to collect incentive bonuses from the carmaker. Maximum punishment for the federal crime is up...
Continue ReadingSerra Nissan Fraud Investigation-Former Managers Guilty of Conspiracy
Former Serra Nissan sales manager Abdul Islam Mughal was given a two and a half year prison sentence for his role in the Serra Nissan fraud case. Seven other former employees of Serra Nissan pled guilty in federal court in Birmingham to a variety of fraud charges stemming from a...
Continue ReadingArbitration Clauses Are Taking Away Consumers’ Rights
A report released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on March 11, 2015, found that forced arbitration clauses are now extremely common, and are restricting consumers’ ability to seek legal relief by preventing consumers from filing their claims in court and preventing consumer participation in class actions. (more…)
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