The US Court of Appeals for The Fourth Circuit issued a great opinion in a class action VPLC filed nearly 2 years ago against an internet lender’s debt collector. Board members Len Bennett and Kristi Kelly, are co-counseling this case (and doing almost all the work) and in addition to investing large amount of their firms’ time into this case they actually hired another law firm to handle the appeal for us and represent us in another class action in South Dakota. This is an important victory against a large abusive internet lender and the abuse of mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts that seek to take away our rights.
Judge Wilkinson writing for the court wrote the following about the defendant in this case: “No one appears to seriously dispute that Western Sky’s payday loans violated a host of state and federal lending laws. Indeed, a quick glance at Western Sky’s loan agreement suggests that Western Sky was keenly aware of the dubious nature of its trade.” “Despite Western Sky’s best efforts, the law — or at least the threat of the law — caught up with it.”
Here is a link to a blog about this case entitled: No, You Can’t Just Write a Contract That Says No Federal Law Applies
Opinion Document: US Court of Appeals for the Fourth District Opinion
