Abstract
Few fields of law impact as wide a swath of population as consumer protection law. Alaska adopted its consumer protection statute, the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPCPA), amid a national movement to strengthen consumer protection laws. The UTPCPA uses broad language to encompass a wide range of conduct. However, creative pleading and recent applications of the UTPCPA have expanded the law in ways that threaten Alaska businesses even in the absence of culpable conduct. This Note reviews the history of consumer protection, Alaska’s UTPCPA, and the incentives leading to an expanding application of the UTPCPA. The Note concludes by proposing potential legislative solutions to rein in abuse of the Act.
Citation
Ryan P. O'Quinn & Thomas Watterson,
Fair Is Fair—Reshaping Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act,
28 Alaska Law Review
295-339
(2011)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/alr/vol28/iss2/4