| Volume 76 Number 6 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Your liability for a lost or stolen credit is capped at $50. However, that rule does not apply to a debit card. If you wait more than two business days to report a lost or stolen debit card, your liability can be as high as $500. Click here for more.
Viacom / DirecTV Dispute Continues
The Viacom / DirecTV dispute continued through the weekend, and it appears there's no end in sight. Last week, DirecTV dropped Spike TV, Nickelodeon, MTV, and numerous other channels after Viacom requested $1 billion above the previous contract price for DirecTV to continue carrying the channels. Although DirecTV was willing to negotiate a higher rate, representatives claim Viacom was unwilling to budge.
If you call DirecTV, you may be eligible for some freebies.
Click here for more.
Oil Prices Continue to Decline
In April, the price of gasoline was as high as $3.967 a gallon. By July 13, the price of gasoline had dropped to $3.41 per gallon. Industry analysts believe that the price of gasoline may be entering a period of "comparative stability," meaning that the price won't be dropping for long. In fact, as drivers hit the road for summer travel, the increase in demand could drive prices back up. Click here for more.
Eight Unemployment Scams
Are you out of work? Don't get sucked into an unemployment scam! Last year, states paid out $1.4 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims. Those who got caught are in major trouble. Unfortunately, many of them didn't even realize how deep they were getting. To read about eight major unemployment scams, Click here for more.
Your Money
Planning to buy a new car? If you're offered the choice between a rebate or interest savings, which should you choose? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Class-wide arbitration claim may proceed even without express agreement. The 1st Circuit held that an arbitrator, not a judge, must decide if an arbitration agreement allows for a dispute to move forward individually or on a class-wide basis. The plaintiff franchisor argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp. required the express consent of the parties before arbitration could proceed as a class action. But the 1st Circuit disagreed, holding not only that an agreement silent on the class-action question did not control, but also that the arbitrator was properly in a position to decide the intent of the parties. “We … reject the … precept, on which [the franchisor’s] argument depends, that there must be express contractual language evincing the parties’ intent to permit class or collective arbitration,” the court held. “Stolt-Nielsen imposes no such constraint on arbitration agreements.” Click here for more.