Consumer Contracts

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On January 4 of this year, we released a podcast show entitled; “A look at a new approach to consumer contracts.” Our special guest at that time was Professor Andrea Boyack, a Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. That podcast was based on a then recent law review article published by Professor Boyack entitled “The Shape of Consumer Contracts,” 101 Denv L.… Continue Reading

Our podcast today focuses on negative option consumer contracts, i.e., agreements that allow a seller to assume a customer’s silence is an acceptance of an offer. Such contracts are ubiquitous in today’s marketplace.

Today’s guests are Kaitlin Caruso, a professor at the University of Maine Law School, and Prentiss Cox, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.… Continue Reading

On September 9, 2014, then-Governor Jerry Brown of California signed into law Assembly Bill No. 2365. The law, which went into effect in January of 2015, prohibits contracts for the sale or lease of consumer goods from including a provision waiving the consumer’s right “to make any statement regarding the seller or lessor or its employees or agents, or concerning the goods or services.”… Continue Reading

On June 22, 2022, the American Law Institute (“ALI”) circulated minor (mostly technical) revisions to Tentative Draft No. 2 of the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts (the “Restatement”). 

The Restatement was approved last month at ALI’s 2022 Annual Meeting, subject to minor changes agreed to by members at the Annual Meeting, the most notable of which is the addition of a new section on “Interpretation and Construction of Consumer Contracts.” … 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