Fowler School of Law Professor Kurt Eggert Testifies Before Congress

Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law Professor Kurt Eggert was invited to testify before a congressional subcommittee on May 11 regarding the issue of regulation in daily fantasy sports. The testimony was heard by the Energy and Commerce Committee.

In his testimony, Professor Eggert offered examples of ways that “professional” fantasy sports players can prey on recreational players by creating a perfect winning lineup using complex algorithms to predict any number of factors. To combat this, he suggested higher regulation of the industry including limiting the number of fantasy lineups that any player can enter, labeling high earners so that recreational players know what caliber of player they are up against, providing services to gambling addicts, preventing insider playing and adding regulators to oversee games. Watch the recorded testimony.

This is the third time that Professor Eggert has been asked to testify before the Energy and Commerce Committee. He also testified on mortgages and securitization before various house committees a number of times between 2003 and 2011. Professor Eggert is a Professor of Law and Director of the Alona Cortese Elder Law Center. He teaches both clinical and doctrinal classes. His scholarship has focused on several areas, among them predatory lending, consumer credit, gambling regulation and elder abuse. He has testified to Congress on predatory lending issues and is a member of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council, where he chairs the subcommittee on Consumer Credit. Previously, he was an adjunct professor of law, teaching elder law at Loyola Law School. From 1990 until 1999, he was a senior attorney at Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, where he specialized in complex litigation, including consumer fraud and home equity fraud. Professor Eggert received his B.A. from Rice University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and received his JD from Boalt Hall, the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

The congressional hearing and Professor Eggert’s comments were covered by several news outlets, including NY Daily News, KRTH radio, MarketWatch, Morning Consult, Courthouse News Service, Cardplayer.com, and Competitive Enterprise Institute.