Sam Levine

Sam Levine Appointed to Lead New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection

January 9, 2026

The Center, its staff and students, and the nationwide CLASS Network of law students and professors join in celebrating the appointment of Sam Levine to lead New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

As Senior Fellow at the Center, Sam’s contributions included articles and op-eds, speeches, and testimony to Congress and state legislatures -- always on behalf of improving the lives of...

Senior Fellow Sam Levine Submits Comment Opposing Department of Transportation Proposal That Would Weaken Passenger Protections

December 3, 2025

Sam Levine, Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice and former Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, submitted a comment on Monday (December 1) opposing the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposed rule that would add new procedural hurdles to unfair and deceptive practices rulemaking.

Levine argued that...

The Price of Loyalty: How Rewards Programs Trap Consumers, and How States Can Take Action to Protect Them

October 20, 2025

Nashville, TN – Loyalty programs are everywhere: from airlines to the grocery store and gas station, companies are seeking your loyalty in exchange for discounts. These programs may look simple: collect your points, get some deals, and save some money. But as a new analysis reveals, the reality is that many loyalty programs function as data-harvesting machines. These programs track what we buy, how we search, and even...

Sam Levine and CLASS Network Urge D.C. Council to Strengthen Consumer Protection Law

October 22, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In testimony before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Public Works and Operations today, two distinguished consumer policy professionals called on lawmakers to pass critical reforms to the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA).

Samuel Levine, Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice and former Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, emphasized the urgent need to modernize D.C.’s consumer...

Senior Fellow Sam Levine Co-Authors New Guide on Applying Existing Laws to AI Chatbots for Kids and Teens

November 19, 2025

Sam Levine, Senior Fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, has partnered with technologists Stephanie Nguyen and Erie Meyer along with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) to release How Existing Laws Apply to AI Chatbots for Kids and Teens, a new resource making clear that AI products aimed at young users are fully subject to longstanding consumer protection and privacy laws.

This resource synthesizes current enforcement themes across jurisdictions, highlighting how...

Sam Levine Discusses Loyalty Program Traps on KERA Radio

December 2, 2025

Sam Levine joined Krys Boyd on KERA's Think program to talk about the many problems with customer loyalty programs. You can listen to a recording of the broadcast here.

Sam's paper (co-authored by Stephanie T. Nguyen) “The Loyalty Trap: How Loyalty Programs Hook Us with Deals, Hack our Brains, and Hike Our Prices” was...

Center Participates in Oregon Consumer Protection Roundtable, and Sam Levine Testifies Before Oregon State Legislature

September 30, 2025

The Center commends Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield for bringing together six attorneys general and national thought leaders for a roundtable yesterday on the urgent challenges facing consumers and workers. With federal consumer and worker protections under threat—through efforts to dismantle the CFPB and weaken the FTC and worker-protection agencies—strong state-level protections and enforcement are more critical than ever.

We were proud to contribute to this important convening. The Center’s Senior Fellows, Seth Frotman and Sam Levine,...

Sam Levine Testifies on NYC Hotel Junk Fees Rule

September 24, 2025

Sam Levine testified this week before the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection in support of the department's proposal to ban junk fees by hotels that operate in New York City or advertise to New York City residents. Also, the Center, CLASS, and the CLASS chapters at the law schools at UC Berkeley, Fordham University, St. John's University, and New York University submitted a...

Sam Levine Speaks about Protections for MLM Workers

August 20, 2025

Sam Levine spoke about the FTC's authority to protect Multilevel Marketing (MLM) workers at the Annual Multilevel Marketing Conference in May. A description of his remarks and an examination of the Robinson-Patman Act can be read here.