2019 List of Schools Teaching Consumer Law

by Jeff Sovern

Five years ago, I posted a list of law schools teaching consumer law, as compiled by my then-research assistant Preston Postlethwaite.  I've received requests to update the list, and so I asked another research assistant, Sara Krastins, to do so. Sara examined the web sites for the 204 ABA-approved law schools (she couldn't check the web sites for Inter-American, the Judge Advocate General's School, Lincoln Memorial, the Marquette clinics, Pontifical Catholic of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, Saint Louis, or Texas Southern). According to Sara, as to consumer law offerings,  78 schools had only a class (38.24%; percentages are of the full 204 schools, including the eight schools for which Sara couldn't find information); 13 schools had only a clinic (6.37%); 17 schools had both a class and a clinic (8.33%); and 108 schools had either a class or a clinic (52.94%).  In all, 95 schools offered a class and 30 have a clinic.  That is a dramatic improvement over what we found five years ago, when 53 schools offered a basic course, 21 had a consumer law clinic, and 12 had both a clinic and a basic course. There are, however, two caveats: first, so far the 2019 list is based solely on web sites, and web sites are sometimes inaccurate.  Last time, as this time, we started with the web sites, and people wrote in with additional information which we then used to update the list.  I'm pasting in the list after the jump; if you see anything that is incomplete or inaccurate, please let me know via the comments.  Second, some schools have on their web sites information about the current school year while others have information about next year's classes. so the list may represent an amalgam of courses taught in both the 2018-2019 school year, and the 2019-2020 year. Though these numbers are a big jump over what we saw last time, I'm hoping that readers of the blog report still more schools teaching consumer law.

School	Consumer Course Offered	Name of Course	Professor Name	Adjunct or Full-Time	Clinic	Professor
AKRON
ALABAMA	yes	Consumer Protection	Maurice Shevin	Adjunct	no
ALBANY	no				no
AMERICAN	yes	Consumer Financial Services Law	Andre Negroni and Jerry Buckley		no
APPALACHIAN	no				no
ARIZONA	no				no
ARIZONA STATE	no				no
ARIZONA SUMMIT	yes	Consumer Law (online)			no
ARKANSAS - Fayetteville	no		Jim Longino	Adjunct
ARKANSAS - Little Rock	yes	Consumer Protection Law			Consumer Protection Clinic and Advanced Consumer Protection Clinic	Amy Pritchard
ATLANTA'S JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL	no				no
AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW	no				no
BALTIMORE	yes	Consumer Law			no
BARRY UNIVERSITY	no				no
BAYLOR	yes	Consumer Protection			no
BELMONT UNIVERSITY	yes	Tennessee Attorney General Field Placement-Consumer Advocate and Protection Division			no
BOSTON COLLEGE	yes	Consumer Rights Litigation			no
BOSTON UNIVERSITY	yes	Consumer Financial Services; Law of Consumer Markets	Craig W. Kaylor; Rory Van Loo		Consumer Debt Practicum	Thomas Beauvais Dougan
BRIGHAM YOUNG	no				no
BROOKLYN	no				New York Civil Court Consumer Law Externship	Sidney Cherubin
CALIFORNIA - Berkeley	no				no
CALIFORNIA - Davis	yes	Consumer Protection and Financial Regulation			no
CALIFORNIA - Hastings	yes	Consumer Finance and Bankruptcy; Consumer Transactions; Consumer Law			no
CALIFORNIA - Irvine	yes	The Consumer Financial Protection  Bureau			Consumer Law Clinic; Advanced Consumer Law Clinic	Stacey Tutt
CALIFORNIA - Los Angeles	no				no
CALIFORNIA WESTERN	yes	Consumer Law			no
CAMPBELL	yes	Consumer Law			no
CAPITAL	yes	Consumer Bankruptcy			no
CASE WESTERN RESERVE	no				no
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA	yes	Consumer Finance Seminar			no
CHAPMAN	no				no
CHARLESTON	yes	Consumer Law			no
CHICAGO	no				no
CHICAGO-KENT	no				no
CINCINNATI	no				no
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	no				no
CLEVELAND STATE	yes	Creditor-Debtor Rights Law (formerly Consumer Law)			no
COLORADO	yes	Consumer Protection Laws and Policies			no
COLUMBIA	no				no
CONCORDIA	no				no
CONNECTICUT	no				no
CORNELL	no				no
CREIGHTON	no				no
DAYTON	no				no
DENVER	yes	Consumer Financial Protection Law			no
DePAUL	yes	Consumer Banking (Course offered Fall 2018 but not spring, professor no longer listed in faculty directory)	Silvia	Unclear	no
DETROIT MERCY	no				no
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA	no				Housing and Consumer Law Clinic	Jasmin Mize
DRAKE	yes	Consumer Banking and Payments Law; Consumer Law Internship; Consumer Protection			no
DREXEL	yes	The Law of Consumer Protection			no
DUKE	yes	Consumer Bankruptcy and Debt			no
DUQUESNE	no				no
ELON	yes	Consumer Protection			no
EMORY	no				no
FAULKNER	no				no
FLORIDA	yes	Consumer Law			no
FLORIDA A&M	yes	Consumer Law			no
FLORIDA COASTAL	yes	Consumer Law			no
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL	yes	Law of Consumer Credit			no
FLORIDA STATE	yes	Consumer Law			no
FORDHAM	yes	Consumer Litigation Clinic Seminar			Consumer Litigation	Marcella Silverman
GEORGE MASON	yes	Consumer Protection Law			no
GEORGETOWN	yes	Consumer Debt and Bankruptcy Seminar, Consumer Finance; Consumer Protection Law Seminar			no
GEORGE WASHINGTON	yes	Consumer Protection Law			no
GEORGIA	yes	Consumer Law			no
GEORGIA STATE	yes	Consumer Protection; Consumer Law Externship The Federal Trade Commission			no
GOLDEN GATE	yes	Lawyering: Ecommerce and Product Counseling; Ecommerce and Product Counseling: a Consumer Protection Perspective			Externship: Consumer Rights Clinic
GONZAGA	yes	Consumer Law			no
HARVARD	no				Predatory Lending and Consumer Protection Clinic	Roger Bertling, Toby Merrill, Eileen Connor
HAWAII	yes	Debtors' and Creditors' Rights			no
HOFSTRA	yes	Consumer Transactions			no
HOUSTON	yes	Texas Consumer Law	McElvaney	Unclear	Consumer Law Clinic	Richard McElvaney
HOWARD	yes	Contemporary Developments: Consumer Law (offered in Fall 2016, no later data available)	Bruckner	Unclear	no
IDAHO	no				no
ILLINOIS	yes	Consumer Finance; Clickwrap, Browsewrap and Shrinkwrap: Current Developments in Consumer Contracting in the Digital Age			no
INDIANA UNIVERSITY - Bloomington	yes	Seminar in Commercial Law: Consumer Credit			no
INDIANA UNIVERSITY - Indianapolis	yes	Consumer Law; Elder Law (includes consumer protection in description)			no
INTER-AMERICAN	Unverifiable
IOWA	no				no
THE JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL	no				no
JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SCHOOL	Unverifiable (website wouldn't let me access)
KANSAS	yes	Consumer Law (not offered in Fall 2019 though)			no
KENTUCKY	yes	Seminar: Advanced Issues in Commercial, Consumer, and Bankruptcy Law	Christopher G. Bradley	Assistant Professor of Law	Does not list individual clinical programs
LA VERNE	no				no
LIBERTY	no				no
LINCOLN MEMORIAL	Website Down
LEWIS AND CLARK	yes	Consumer Financial Law & Regulation	P. Olstad	Unclear	no
LOUISIANA STATE	no				no
LOUISVILLE	no				no
LOYOLA - Chicago	yes	Consumer Law	Unlisted		no
LOYOLA - Los Angeles	no				no
LOYOLA - New Orleans	no				no
MAINE	no				no
MARQUETTE	no				Unaccessible, must have a login
MARYLAND	yes	Consumer Protection Seminar	Louise Carwell	Unclear	Consumer Protection/ Attorney General's Office Clinic	Michael Millemann
MASSACHUSETTS	yes	Consumer Rights; Massachusetts Consumer Protection			Predatory Lending Clinic	Roger Bertling
MCGEORGE	no				no
MEMPHIS	yes	Consumer Law			Elder Law Clinic	Donna S. Harkness
MERCER	no				no
MIAMI	yes	Consumer Protection	Peter Halle	Unclear	no
MICHIGAN STATE	yes	Consumer Law			no
MICHIGAN	no				no
MINNESOTA	yes	Consumer Protection Law	Ann Burkhart		Consumer Protection Clinic	Prentiss Cox
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE	yes	Consumer Law			no
MISSISSIPPI	no				Elder Law Clinic	Catherine "Ginny" Kilgore
MISSOURI	no				no
MISSOURI - Kansas City	yes	Consumer Protection			no
MITCHELL | HAMLINE	no				no
MONTANA	yes	Consumer Protection; Economic Development and Consumer Protection in Indian Country (previously offered as a summer course)			no	Faculty Supervisor TBD
NEBRASKA	no				Site link broken
NEVADA	no				no
NEW ENGLAND LAW | BOSTON	no				no
NEW MEXICO	yes	Consumer Law Seminar			no
NEW HAMPSHIRE	yes	Consumer & Commerical Law; Consumer Law & Bankruptcy			no
NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL	no				no
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	no				no
NORTH CAROLINA	yes	Consumer Law			Consumer Financial Transactions Clinic	K. Elengold
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL	no				Consumer Financial Transactions Clinic	Pamela Thombs
NORTH DAKOTA	yes	Consumer Protection Law			no
NORTHEASTERN	yes	Consumer Law			no
NORTHERN ILLINOIS	no				no
NORTHERN KENTUCKY	no				no
NORTHWESTERN	no				no
NOTRE DAME	no				Economic Justice Clinic
NOVA SOUTHEASTERN	no				Consumer Protection Internship Clinic	Michael Flynn
OHIO NORTHERN	no				no
OHIO STATE	yes	Consumer Law	Douglas Whaley	Full-time	no
OKLAHOMA	yes	Consumer Finance Law			no
OKLAHOMA CITY	no				no
OREGON	yes	Consumer Law	Elizabeth Tippett	Associate Professor	no
PACE	no				no
PENNSYLVANIA	yes	Consumer Financial Regulation	Natasha Sarin	Assistant Professor	no
PENNSYLVANIA STATE-Dickinson Law	no				no
PENNSYLVANIA STATE-Penn State Law	no				no
PEPPERDINE	no				no
PITTSBURGH	yes	European Community Consumer Protection Law			no
PONTIFICAL CATHOLIC OF PUERTO RICO	Unverifiable
PUERTO RICO	Unverifiable
QUINNIPIAC	no				no
REGENT	no				Civil Practice Clinic	Kathleen McKee
RICHMOND	no				no
ROGER WILLIAMS	no				no
RUTGERS	yes	Consumer Law (only at the Newark campus)			no
ST. JOHN'S	yes	Consumer Protection	Jeff Sovern	Full-time	Consumer Justice for the Elderly Litigation Clinic	Ann Goldweber and Gina Calabrese
SAINT LOUIS	Website Down
ST. MARY'S	yes	Consumer Protection Law			Civil Justice Clinic	Genevieve Hébert Fajardo
ST. THOMAS (Florida)	yes	Consumer Law			no
ST. THOMAS (Minnesota)	yes	Consumer Law			no
SAMFORD	yes	Consumer Protection			no
SAN DIEGO	no				no
SAN FRANCISCO	no				no
SANTA CLARA	no				Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center	Unclear
SEATTLE	yes				Consumer Advocacy Clinic	Bryan Adamson
SETON HALL	yes	Consumer Law			no
SOUTH CAROLINA	yes	Consumer Law			no
SOUTH DAKOTA	no				no
SOUTH TEXAS-HOUSTON	yes	Consumer Transactions			no
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY	yes	Consumer Law			yes
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	no				no
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS	yes	Consumer Protection			no
SOUTHERN METHODIST	yes	Consumer Law			Civil/Consumer Clinic	Mary Spector, Eliot Shavin, and Lisa Montes
SOUTHWESTERN	no				no
STANFORD	no				no
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK-Buffalo	no				no
STETSON	yes	Consumer Law			no
SUFFOLK	yes	Consumer Law			no
SYRACUSE	no				no
TEMPLE	no				The Elderly Law Project	Debra Kroll
TENNESSEE	no				no
TEXAS	yes	Consumer Protection (Deceptive Trade Practices Act)	Manuel H Newburger	Listed as "Faculty Assistant"	no
TEXAS A&M	yes	Consumer Law			Community Legal Access Clinic	Luz Herrera
TEXAS SOUTHERN	Website Down				no
TEXAS TECH	yes	Consumer Law			no
THOMAS JEFFERSON	no				no
TOLEDO	no				no
TOURO	no				no
TULANE	no				no
TULSA	no				no
UNT Dallas	yes	Consumer Law			no
UTAH	no				no
VALPARAISO	no				no
VANDERBILT	no				no
VERMONT	no				no
VILLANOVA	no				no
VIRGINIA	no				Consumer Law Clinic	Caroline F Klosko, Rachel Nadas, Elaine N Poon
WAKE FOREST	no				no
WASHBURN	no				Civil Litigation Clinic	Unable to find
WASHINGTON AND LEE	yes	Consumer Protection			no
WASHINGTON	yes	Consumer Law	Paula Selis	Unclear	no
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	no				no
WAYNE STATE	yes	Consumer Law			no
WMU THOMAS M. COOLEY	yes	Consumer Law			Debt Relief Clinic	Victor H. Veschio
WESTERN NEW ENGLAND	yes	Consumer Protection	Justin Dion		no
WESTERN STATE	no				no
WEST VIRGINIA	yes	Consumer Protection Law			no
WHITTIER	no				no
WIDENER-Delaware	yes	Consumer Law & Litigation			no
WIDENER-Commonwealth	no				Consumer Law Clinic
WILLAMETTE	yes	Consumer Law			no
WILLIAM AND MARY	no				no
WISCONSIN	no				Consumer Law Clinic	Sarah Orr
WYOMING	yes	Consumer Protection	Dee Pridgen		no
YALE	no				no
YESHIVA	no				Civil Litigation Clinic	Leslie Salzman

 

Comments

[Edwin Bell]

It's all fine and well to exonerate Law Schools offering consumer law for people interested in pursuing an honorable career assisting and defending consumers. The inherent problem with defending consumers is overcoming the corruption that exist within the Courts and clerks offices. Attorneys are filing massive amounts of disingenuous or fraudulent claims in every court in Maryland and across the country. Judges are rubber stamping either default judgments or summary judgments that are unlawful according to UCC rules, controlling law, and state debt collection laws. Until the controlling bodies (Appeals Courts or the State Bar) end fraud being filed openly and notoriously by corrupt attorneys nothing will change for consumers. The illegal debt collection scheme that has inhibited the Maryland Judiciary is akin to the actions and behavior of a criminal syndicate. As long as judges and corrupt attorneys are becoming fabulously rich off of the backs of fraud used against innocent victims with the backing of the courts nothing will ever change. Hopefully a new young bred of honest attorneys who care about the quality of our justice system and our society will fight the evil posture of the justice system's current demeanor towards consumers who are being railroaded with fraud by courts that are obviously biased and prejudice.

[Matthew Bruckner]

At Howard, I (a tenure-track faculty member) teach Consumer (Finance) Law every other year, alternating with a consumer bankruptcy seminar.

[Adam Levitin]

For G'town there are three full-time, tenure-track faculty who teach in the area: Anne Fleming, David Hyman, and Adam Levitin. Note that we have a former Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection on the faculty, but he doesn't teach in the area!