“State Consumer Protection Laws Unhinged: It is Time to Restore Sanity to the Litigation”

The ATR Foundation’s “State Consumer Protection Laws Unhinged: It is Time to Restore Sanity to the Litigation” is a new, “plain-English”, non-technical discussion of how consumer protection statutes have been misused from a broad, national perspective.  The paper contains fresh content, case studies, and examples of abuse.

“Consumer Protection Acts or Consumer Litigation Acts? A Historical and Empirical Examination of State CPAs”

“Consumer Protection Acts or Consumer Litigation Acts? A Historical and Empirical Examination of State CPAs,” was written for the American Tort Reform Foundation by Professor Joanna Shepherd-Bailey of the Emory University School of Law.  Professor Shepherd-Bailey demonstrates that what she calls a steady “devolution” of CPAs since the 1980s  ̶  from laws enforced primarily by state attorneys general seeking injunctive relief in the public interest to laws that now allow and thus encourage private litigation in sometimes selfish pursuit of significant awards for damages and attorney’s fees – has come to hurt consumers as much or more than they protect them.

“The Expansion of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act: Causes and Consequences” 

“The Expansion of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act: Causes and Consequences,“ was written for the American Tort Reform Foundation by Professor Joanna Shepherd of the Emory University School of Law.  Professor Bailey demonstrates that reported consumer fraud claims in New Jersey increased 450 percent from 2000 through 2009, roughly three times the national average during the same time period.  Indulgent amendments by lawmakers and lenient interpretations by the courts have encouraged enterprising litigants and lawyers to bring claims, resulting in a dramatic increase in consumer protection litigation.  This increase inflicts costs on New Jersey consumers through higher product costs, lower employment, an overburdened justice system, and socially-harmful litigation.

“The Expanding Missouri Merchandising Practices Act”

“The Expanding Missouri Merchandising Practices Act,“ was written for the American Tort Reform Foundation by Professor Joanna Shepherd of the Emory University School of Law.  It is being released in conjunction with an event being held in St. Louis, Missouri on November 5, 2014, to highlight the excessive litigation and abuse surrounding the state’s consumer protection law.