Matthew H. Adler Quoted in Credit.com, Money Magazine and Yahoo! Finance
Matthew H. Adler, Pepper partner, chair of the firm's International and Domestic Arbitration Practice Group and co-chair of the Commercial Litigation Practice Group, was quoted in the October 16, 2015 Credit.com blog post, "The CFPB's Arbitration Ban Could Be the Next Supreme Court Showdown," October 16, 2015 Money Magazine article, "Suing Your Bank Could Get a Lot Easier" and October 16, 2015 Yahoo! Finance article, "The CFPB's Arbitration Ban Could Be the Next Supreme Court Showdown."
"It comes down simply to whether the (bureau) can now make rules that run directly counter to clear Supreme Court findings," said Matt Adler, a law professor at the University of Virginia and chair of the arbitration practice at Pepper Hamilton law firm.
"It's really going to come down to whether an agency rule can overcome those cases. There's absolutely going to be test litigation," Adler said.
His opinion was clear-cut — absent an explicit amendment to the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act, the CFPB rule won't survive.
"I think you're going to need a Congressional Amendment," he said. "The court will most certainly not roll over in face of an agency rule."
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Adler, doesn't see it that way, however. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, was clearly created by Congress to make rules about environmental issues. The CFPB is regulating an overly broad area beyond its expertise, he argued.
"I find this to be unique…The agency can't make any rule it wants," he said. "I could see the Supreme Court saying not only is this contrary to precedent, but it's contrary to the plain language of the (Federal Arbitration) Act."
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