Our special guest is Andrea Boyack, Professor, University of Missouri School of Law.  We first discuss the principles that underlie our current system of consumer contracts and the system’s role in promoting transactional efficiency and other objectives.  Prof. Boyack then provides her views on why the application of traditional contract law to the modern consumer contract context is not in the best interests of consumers and offers a different approach to consumer contracts in which a consumers can shape the terms of their contracts. … Continue Reading

Professor Hoffman first explains his thesis that falling transaction costs has led to the proliferation of form contracts into areas where they little have social value, resulting in social harms that require a new approach.  We then discuss his proposal that states deny enforcement of written contracts for small dollar transactions by adopting what he calls a “Statute Against Forms.” … Continue Reading

I am pleased to report that as a result of the efforts of its business and consumer critics (among whom I include myself), the Tentative Draft of the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts was put “on hold” yesterday at ALI’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., making next year’s annual meeting the earliest date when the Restatement will again be considered by ALI’s members.… Continue Reading

At the American Law Institute’s annual meeting next Tuesday in Washington, D.C., members will be voting on whether to approve a Tentative Draft of the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts (the “Restatement”).  I had the privilege of participating as a panelist on May 6 in a panel discussion about the Restatement at the Thirteenth Annual Judicial Symposium on Civil Justice Issues in Arlington, Virginia, sponsored by the Law & Economics Center of George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced that its FY 2014 service contract inventory is available for public viewing.  The inventory provides information on service contracts over $25,000 funded by the CFPB in FY 2014.

In addition to the inventory, the CFPB issued a summary listing its ten largest contract obligations.  The two largest obligations were for “Support-Professional: Program Management/Support” in the amount of $25,853,343 and “IT & Telecommunications-Telecommunications and Transmission” in the amount of $22,960,594. … Continue Reading