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The Supreme Court’s June 29, 2026 decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook raise fundamental questions about presidential power, the independence of federal agencies, and the constitutional structure of the administrative state. Although both cases involved the President’s authority to remove federal officials, the Court’s decisions appear to point in different directions.… Continue Reading

Artificial intelligence is increasingly changing single‑plaintiff consumer litigation, particularly by enabling pro se plaintiffs to file longer, more citation‑dense complaints more quickly, while simultaneously giving defense counsel tools to assess cases, identify weaknesses, and pursue early resolution or dismissal strategies. In the first episode of this series focusing on consumer financial services litigation, Joseph Schuster and Matthew Morr, partners at Ballard Spahr in our Consumer Financial Services Group, discuss both the tactical opportunities and the professional responsibility/ethics risks created by AI use in litigation.… Continue Reading

For decades, the debate over arbitration agreements and class action waivers in consumer financial services contracts has largely played out in courtrooms, before regulators and Congress, and in academic journals. Advocates and critics have debated issues ranging from consumer access to justice and deterrence to litigation costs and whether the benefits of arbitration are ultimately passed along to consumers.… Continue Reading

The SpaceX IPO generated enormous attention for obvious reasons. It was the largest IPO in history, and the company’s stock price initially surged after trading began. But an important legal development associated with the IPO has received considerably less attention: SpaceX adopted an unusually comprehensive shareholder dispute-resolution regime (the “Regime”) in its bylaws.… Continue Reading

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming consumer financial services, and consumer debt collection is no exception. AI already is being used in a variety of first-party and third-party consumer debt collection activities, ranging from account scoring and communication strategies to payment-plan optimization and compliance monitoring.

In our Consumer Finance Monitor podcast show being released today, our special guest John McNamara, Chief Growth Officer at Avtal (a fintech and software as a service (SAS) company that provides an AI-powered, white-labeled digital engagement platform to help third-party consumer debt collection agencies automate communication and process self-service payments) and  a former CFPB senior official who played a significant role in developing Regulation F promulgated under the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act explained that the debt collection industry needs to distinguish genuine AI applications from the marketing hype surrounding the technology.… Continue Reading

Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from helping consumers make purchasing decisions to making those decisions for them. So-called “agentic AI” or “AI shopping agents” could search for financial products, compare prices and terms, negotiate with providers, open or close accounts, switch providers and complete transactions without the consumer participating in each step.… Continue Reading

The future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) has rarely been more uncertain. Since its creation, the CFPB has been at the center of intense political and policy debate, with its priorities changing dramatically as administrations change. The events of the past year or so under the leadership of Acting Directors chosen by President Trump, however, have taken that policy whiplash to a new level.… Continue Reading

First and Ninth Circuit decisions conflict with the Second Circuit, while the OCC has concluded that state escrow-interest laws are preempted

National bank preemption is headed toward another Supreme Court showdown. The Second Circuit has held that New York’s mortgage escrow-interest requirement is preempted, directly conflicting with the First Circuit’s decision upholding a comparable Rhode Island requirement and the Ninth Circuit’s decision allowing a similar California law to remain in effect.… Continue Reading

New Podcast Explores the Distributional Costs of Effective Consumer Regulation

Disclosure has long been one of the principal tools of consumer protection. The basic premise seems straightforward: if consumers are given better information about the terms of a transaction, they should be able to make better-informed decisions.

But what if better disclosure works differently for different consumers?… Continue Reading

In the latest episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor podcast that we are releasing today, we explore a topic that is becoming increasingly important for financial services companies and virtually every other business operating in today’s digital economy: how privacy, cybersecurity, and AI governance can be transformed from compliance obligations into sources of customer confidence, resilience, and competitive advantage.… Continue Reading