| Volume 102 Number 3 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
All banks are not created equal. Their services may be the same but prices are not. Shop around. Ask about free checking and online banking. Find out what the rate of interest is on deposits and what they charge for bounced checks, stop-payment orders and other services. Set up a line of credit instead of agreeing to "free" over-draft protection. A little comparative shopping can save you hundreds of dollars a year.
For more general information about the law, check out my website.
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Hydrocodone Restrictions Start October 6
Starting October 6, it will be much more difficult for doctors to prescribe and patients to receive hydrocodone combinations like Vicodin. In a press release, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that hydrocodone combination products will be moved from Schedule III to a Schedule II controlled substance. As a result, drugs like Vicodin will be treated the same as morphine and methamphetamine.
With the move to Schedule II, doctors will no longer be able to prescribe refills on the original prescription or electronically send prescription information to a pharmacy. As a result, many patients battling moderate pain may be required to make more regular visits to their treating physician.
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Home Depot Investigates Data Hack
If you thought your payment information might finally be safe at popular retails stores, think again.
Home Depot is investigating "unusual activity" that may be indicative of a security breach. According to one security journalist, Home Depot may be the source of a "massive" wave of debit and credit card information that recently went on sale in the underground market.
Of the reports, a Home Depot representative said,
"Our forensics and security teams have been working around the clock since we first became aware of a potential breach Tuesday morning.... There is no higher priority for us at this time."
Despite no confirmation that a data breach actually occurred, a potential class action lawsuit was already filed in a United States District Court in Georgia.
Do you shop at Home Depot? Is your information safe?
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CVS Stops Selling Cigarettes a Month Early
Originally, CVS planned to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products on October 1. Instead, it emptied the shelves a full month early, replacing tobacco products with free "Last Pack" kits designed to help consumers break the habit. Inside, consumers will find information on how to quit and coupons to reach that end.
CVS tobacco sales totaled about $2 billion annually. However, the company calls the sale of cigarettes "inconsistent" with the company's purpose.
Federal regulators have recently been pushing pharmacies to stop selling tobacco products alongside health products. While CVS is taking the lead, Walgreens announced in February that it was evaluating its tobacco line.
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Your Money
How should you allocate your assets?
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For the Lawyers
Tribal arbitration agreement is unconscionable.
The Seventh Circuit found that a class of borrowers did not have to proceed with arbitration conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (“Tribe”) in South Dakota “because the arbitral mechanism specified in the agreement is illusory.”
The agreements provided that any disputes would be resolved by arbitration “conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Nation by an authorized representative in accordance with its consumer dispute rules.” The arbitrator would be a Tribal Elder or members of the Tribal Council. The agreement also provided it was governed by the laws of the Tribe.
The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court, concluding that the plaintiffs’ claims should not have been dismissed. It reached that conclusion based on applying two different analyses.
First, it applied the rule that forum selection clauses (like the one here selecting arbitration by the Tribe) are enforceable unless “unreasonable under the circumstances.” The court found the forum selection was illusory and therefore unreasonable because the Tribe “does not authorize Arbitration…does not involve itself in the hiring of …arbitrator[s], and [] does not have consumer dispute rules.”
Second, the Seventh Circuit considered the enforceability of the arbitration agreement under Illinois law (which applied if the agreement’s choice of Tribal law was invalid). Under Illinois law, the court found that the arbitration agreement was unconscionable. It found it was procedurally unconscionable (despite the plaintiff’s having the right to opt out) because the plaintiffs could not have found out about the dispute resolution process and rules, since there were none. It was substantively unconscionable because the dispute resolution mechanism did not exist and any arbitrator was likely to be biased. The court also noted that its finding of unconscionability was not preempted by the decision in Concepcion.
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