Lex Machina is announcing the launch of the Consumer Protection Litigation analytics module covering nearly 145,000 cases, including more than 26,000 class action lawsuits, pending in federal district court since 2009. This is the 15th topical module added to the Lex Machina platform. Every Lex Machina module provides data driven insights into judges, courts, law firms, individual attorneys, and parties which can be used to win new business or develop litigation strategy.
The new module covers two major areas: consumer finance and unfair or deceptive practices. Consumer protection cases allege at least one of the following federal consumer protection statutes: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or a federal consumer protection enforcement statute, such as the FTC Act or Consumer Financial Protection Act.
Laura Hopkins, Legal Data Expert at Lex Machina, described the value of the product in the press release: “consumer protection is a rapidly shifting practice area with a high volume of case filings, high-profile cases, and large proportion of class action cases. Both consumer protection laws and frameworks for existing laws are often being updated as new technology and trends emerge.”
Lex Machina Consumer Protection Resolutions
Consumer Protection Litigation On the Rise An analysis of the Lex Machina data shows that cases alleging Fair Credit Reporting Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations have skyrocketed in recent years. More than $43 billion in damages have been awarded in consumer protection cases. High profile litigation include Capital One, Equifax, Volkswagen and Facebook. Lex Machina plans to issue a comprehensive Consumer Protection Litigation Report later this year.
Lex Machina Consumer Protection Findings
Each topical module includes practice-specific data tags and filters. which enable users to target high value insights. Among the practice-specific new case tags, damages categories and findings include:
- Case Tags: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), FTC / CFPB Enforcement, and Unfair / Deceptive Trade Practices
- Damages: Statutory Damages, Enhanced / Trebled Damages, Compensatory Damages, Punitive Damages, Restitution, Civil Money Penalties, Settled Claim Damages, and Approved Class Action Settlement
- Findings: Violation Findings: FDCPA Violation, FCRA Violation, TILA Violation, TCPA Violation, Other Federal Consumer Finance Violation, State Consumer Finance Violation, Fraud, Negligence, Federal Enforcement Violation, and State UDTP Violation
- Class Certification Findings: No Class Representative Standing, No Ascertainable Class, No 23(a)(1) Numerosity, No 23(a)(2) Commonality, No 23(a)(3) Typicality, No 23(a)(4) Adequate Representation, and No 23(b)(3) Predominance and Superiority
- Defense Findings: Bona Fide Error Defense, Good Faith Reliance Defense
- Remedies: TILA Rescission
Webcast on Legal Analytics for Consumer Protection Litigation
On August 28 at 11:00am PDT, Lex Machina will sponsor an ALM webcast entitled, “Legal Analytics for Consumer Protection Case Strategies.” Panelists include Lex Machina’s GC and Chief Evangelist Owen Byrd and Legal Data Expert Laura Hopkins; Jessica E. Salisbury-Copper, a partner at Thompson Hine; and Timothy P. Kingsbury, associate attorney at McGuire Law, P.C. For more information or to register please click here.
What’s Up Next from Lex Machina
During the Consumer Protection module demo I asked Own Byrd for some insights into upcoming developments. According to Byrd Lex Machina expects launch the remaining federal topical modules before the end of the year. At that point they will shift their focus to state analytics products