Last year, our newest federal consumer agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), rolled out an ambitious program designed to elevate the level of financial literacy among consumers. One part of the effort is primarily focused on the most vulnerable, such as those who qualify for free social services or who obtain legal services from
Talk of a post-scarcity society can easily sound like the stuff of science fiction, or techno-utopianism, or worse, blithe ignorance of the billions of people on the planet for whom real scarcity of basic needs is very much an entrenched difficulty of the present. Nevertheless, the convergence of a series of technological developments has convinced
Last year we profiled the life and career of alumni Dave Sykes. As a partner at Duane Morris, Sykes spearheaded the development of the practice of bankruptcy law on a national scale. In addition to his work for the firm, he also organized the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, and the non-profit Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance
When the wolf is literally at your door and an unwelcome offer to buy your company arrives, what is the role of in-house counsel? That situation is playing out in real time on CNBC, trade journals and newspapers as Canadian Pacific Rail and its legendary CEO, Hunter Harrison, along with activist investor Bill Ackman of
For most of us the holiday season is a time of friends and family, lots of food and too many holiday parties. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most difficult times of year for the poor amongst us and one of the reasons I created the Donafy App. Donafy is a free smartphone app
Few groups within our society are as confident in our intellectual abilities as attorneys. After all, we excelled in our primary and secondary educations, attained high honors in undergraduate studies, tackled the LSAT, successfully ran the gauntlet of law school, and now we are trusted advisors to our clients on a daily basis in a
It is trite to say that the Internet has changed the world of intellectual property. The Internet’s impact on copyright law, in particular, has been revolutionary. The Internet allowed artists and authors of creative expression to distribute their works to millions of users. Equally dramatic, the Internet has provided users the ability to share these
In this country, football is as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey and pumpkin pie. Increasingly, the tradition of lounging around watching football games while gorging on food all day is also filled with fantasy sports strategizing. No matter which teams are playing, somebody in the room has someone on their fantasy team that
Since the economic crisis, public finance commentators have urged caution in light of the troubles facing Detroit or Puerto Rico. Recent changes in accounting rules for public pensions have raised concerns about risks for managers of those pensions under federal securities laws. The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) sets accounting standards for public pensions. It
In September, Volkswagen announced that it had rigged diesel emissions tests in the United States to make its “Clean Diesel” cars seem energy efficient while they were being tested. In fact, the cars emitted pollutants up to 40 times more than what is allowed by U.S. law. After the announcement, which affects 11 million cars