As expected, the American Law Institute (“ALI”) approved the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts yesterday at ALI’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.  The Restatement sets forth a series of rules that are intended to represent the current black letter law for contracts between businesses and consumers and culminates an 11-year project by ALI on the subject. … Continue Reading

With ALI’s members poised to approve the new Restatement, providers need to understand the Restatement’s impact on their consumer agreements, particularly those entered into online.  After reviewing the rationale for the new Restatement and ALI’s approach to developing the rules it contains, we look at the issues covered by each section, such as the rules that deal with assent to contract terms, change in terms, unconscionability, and deception. … Continue Reading

Our Consumer Finance Monitor podcast continues to cover the most important industry issues.  In anticipation of the American Law Institute (“ALI”) considering the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts (the “Restatement”) at its Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on Tuesday, May 17, we plan to release an episode about the Restatement with guest Steven Weise, a member of ALI’s Council on Monday, May 16. … Continue Reading

Earlier today, I published a blog post explaining why I believe the American Law Institute’s members should not approve the Tentative Draft of the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts (the “Restatement”) on which they will be voting at ALI’s annual meeting next Tuesday in Washington, D.C.  As I indicated in my blog post, the upcoming vote on the Restatement presents an unusual circumstance where both consumer and business groups find themselves in agreement that the Restatement should be rejected by ALI’s members.… Continue Reading

At the American Law Institute (ALI) annual meeting in Washington, DC on May 22-24th, members had the opportunity to review a discussion draft of the Restatement of the Law Third, Consumer Contracts.  The draft is the result of the ALI’s 2012 initiative to supplement the Restatement Second of Contracts and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) with a Restatement dedicated to transactions made solely by consumers for personal or household purposes.… Continue Reading