Partner Robert Long is quoted in The Street article titled, “Equifax Data Disaster Brings Consumer Bureau Arbitration Rule Into Spotlight.” The piece explores the fate of a rule by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would bar companies from inserting mandatory arbitration clauses into contracts with consumers. After the credit reporting agency Equifax recently announced a data breach, it was widely reported that its offer of free credit monitoring services to affected consumers included language restricting those who opted in and had a dispute with the company to forced arbitration, and barring them from joining class-action lawsuits possibly even those related to the breach. Equifax later limited the clause, but the incident arguably dimmed the prospects of a repeal of the CFPB arbitration rule, which has yet to go into effect. Long commented, “The winds have shifted. The CFPB’s rule is less likely to be repealed now.”

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