Underneath All Are the Contracts

Ralph Nader explains the problem with standard form contracts and introduces faircontracts.org.

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New York Times Article on Boilerplate Contracts Gives Shout Out to this Website

New York Times Article on Boilerplate Contracts Gives Shout Out to this WebsiteProfessors (and Fair Contracts Advisory Board Members) Margaret Jane Radin and Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, as well as Professor James Gibson, are all quoted about the problems of boilerplate in “Those Wordy Contracts We All So Quickly Accept,” an article written by Alina Tugend on…

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Terms and Conditions May Apply — a Documentary About the Fine Print Terms and Your (Lack of) Privacy on the Internet

Terms and Conditions May Apply — a Documentary About the Fine Print Terms and Your (Lack Of) Privacy on the Internet Opening in New York City on July 12, 2013, and in various cities across the country thereafter.  For more information, see schedule and trailer here.

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Updated List of Scholarly Articles and Books on the Fine Print

Updated List of Scholarly Articles and Books on the Fine Print We have updated our list of scholarly articles and books on the fine print.  If you are an author of a work not cited, please don’t hesitate to let us know about it for inclusion.  The list is here.   

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Interviews on American Express Co. et al. v. Italian Colors Restaurant et al. with Appellate Litigator Deepak Gupta and Professor Margaret Jane Radin

Interviews on American Express Co. et al. v. Italian Colors Restaurant et al. with Appellate Litigator Deepak Gupta and Professor Margaret Jane Radin: In the week following the Court’s decision in American Express Co. et al. v. Italian Colors Restaurant et al., Fair Contracts asked the experienced appellate advocate who argued the case on behalf…

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Another Supreme Court Pro-Arbitration Win for Corporations

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BBC 4: Law In Action Program Features Terms of Service; didn’t read

BBC 4 Law In Action Program Features Terms of Service; didn’t read The BBC is devoting a four-part series on terms of service for contracts noting that Paypal’s 50,000 word contract is longer than Hamlet, Shakespeare’s longest play (30,000 words).    TOS;dr representatives are featured on the program.  The relevant part starts at 16:45 minutes…

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Richmond Law Professor Jim Gibson: 25 Contracts, 7 hours, 74,849 words of Boilerplate to Read, on Average — to Buy a Computer

Feel like reading legal texts about as long as the first Harry Potter book to buy a computer?  Can you spare a work day just to read the fine print? If not, consumer beware.  Richmond Law Professor Jim Gibson has written an article in the Washington & Lee Law Review (70 Wash. & Lee L….

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Fair Contracts Participates in the Contracts Prof Blog’s Online Symposium on Boilerplate

Boilerplate Symposium II: Theresa Amato on Remedies to the Problems Posed by Boilerplate. Read the post here on the Contracts Prof Blog, May 14, 2013.  There will be about two weeks of posts on issues raised by Professor Margaret Jane Radin’s book, Boilerplate, The Fine Print, Vanishing Rights, and the Rule of Law.

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The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2013

The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2013 has been introduced: S. 878 and H.R. 1844.  The bill would invalidate forced pre-dispute binding arbitration that prevents access to the courthouse by consumers, employees and others. The Fair Contracts Project at Citizen Works signed on to this letter from consumer groups. Senate Sponsor Al Franken’s (Minnesota) summary of what…

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Senator Franken and Colleagues Send Letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White to Demand Ban of Forced Arbitration to Protect Investor Rights

Senator Franken and Colleagues Send Letter to SEC Chair Mary Jo White to Demand Ban of Forced Arbitration to Protect Investor Rights See Franken’s Press Release which contains a copy of the letter/signatories and the WSJ report.    The letter includes these paragraphs: “If arbitration offers investors an efficient forum to resolve disputes, as some argue,…

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