In Sessoms v. USHealth Advisors, LLC, the Fourth Circuit reversed the Eastern District of North Carolina and held that USHealth Advisors, LLC could enforce an arbitration clause contained in a lead-generation website’s Terms of Use against a consumer bringing TCPA claims.

Summary:

Plaintiff Cynthia Sessoms alleged that USHealth violated the TCPA through prerecorded telemarketing calls. USHealth argued that Sessoms had previously agreed to arbitration when she sought insurance quotes through a NextGen/FirstQuoteHealth lead-generation website.

n Peoples v.  Experian , Judge Thomas D. Schroeder of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina takes up one of those procedural questions that federal litigators have been fighting over for nearly two decades after Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal: whether defendants asserting affirmative defenses must satisfy the same “plausibility” standard imposed on plaintiffs, or whether merely providing “fair notice” remains enough.

Available at:  https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/niulr/vol46/iss2/6/

Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6615598

Abstract:

The American Bar Association's Commercial Law Education Task Force was formed to bring renewed attention to the importance of commercial law in legal education. There has been a significant decline in commercial law course offerings at U.S. law schools, and we write to law schools to ask them to prioritize and encourage commercial law offerings.

Available: SSRN – “Whose Problem is it, Anyway? Some Thoughts on § 541(b)(7)’s Hanging Paragraph”

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In the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina, through Judge Ashley Austin Edwards, partially granted and partially denied motions for reconsideration filed by DBMP LLC and related CertainTeed/Saint-Gobain entities regarding a prior privilege and discovery ruling in the sprawling asbestos bankruptcy litigation.

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In , the Fourth Circuit in Jackson v. Protas, Spivok & Collins LLC held that a debt collection law firm could not enforce an arbitration clause contained in a consumer loan agreement because the firm was not “servicing” the loan within the meaning of the contract.

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In LaRosa v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Fourth Circuit held that interest obligations arising from an erroneous IRS refund can constitute “unpaid tax” eligible for equitable innocent spouse relief under 26 U.S.C. § 6015(f).

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In American Acceptance Corporation of SC v. Gietz , the Fourth Circuit held that a secured creditor’s rights in collateral can temporarily give way when the property becomes critical evidence in a criminal prosecution.

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In , Judge Pamela McAfee denied confirmation of the Clarks’ Chapter 13 plan after concluding that continuing to spend $1,715 per month on private Christian school tuition while proposing to discharge roughly 90% of more than $300,000 in unsecured debt was inconsistent with the good faith requirement of 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(3).