Looking Ahead on the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection Path

The passage last year of a new federal law covering lending and credit transactions for consumers will provide stronger protection, but questions about how it will be enforced and what it will actually mean are just beginning to be answered.

That was the overall theme of the 2011 Public Service Conference held at Eckstein Hall. The conference, New Directions in Consumer and Community Financial Protection, brought together prominent federal and state authorities on the subject and provided an up-to-the-minute look at the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

“Dodd-Frank created a floor, not a ceiling, for consumer protection” noted Kathleen Keest, an expert on consumer protection law from the Center for Responsible Lending.  The new law reverses some of the federal preemption rules that were in effect prior to its passage, providing state attorney generals with increased enforcement authority with respect to many consumer protection laws.

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Best of the Blogs: Inequality Edition

Hey, law students and profs, it’s time for you to fear the ‘fro.  Pistons center Ben Wallace reportedly plans to attend law school after he retires from the NBA.  At Above the Law, Elie Mystal comments on Wallace’s prospects as a law student, comparing his advantages and disadvantages relative to his classmates.  For instance:

GRADES: Would you give Ben Wallace a C? I wouldn’t give Ben Wallace a C. What possible good could come from giving Ben Wallace a C? EDGE: Ben Wallace

Amen to that!  By the way, given the strength of our sports law program, I hope Wallace will be giving Marquette a serious look.  And, as a defensive specialist, he shouldn’t mind too much that our local NBA franchise can’t seem to find the hoop.

Mystal’s post imagines Wallace heading to a lucrative big-firm job, which does point to the more serious issue addressed by my next post: the ease with which wealth can be used to generate more wealth, producing an inequality spiral in society.  

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The IRS’s Hollow Victory in Crane v. Commissioner, 331 U.S. 1 (1947)

[Editors’ note: This is the fourth in our series, What Is the Most Important U.S. Supreme Court Case in Your Area of the Law? The first three installments are here, here, and here.]

There are many important Supreme Court tax cases.  However, few are identifiable just by reference to a footnote number.  Tax scholars and academics will easily recognize the Supreme Court’s decision in Crane v. Commissioner simply by reference to footnote 37.  In my opinion, Crane is the most important case in tax history, and footnote 37 is the most famous footnote.

The issues presented in Crane arose when the taxpayer inherited an apartment building from her husband. 

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