So says Paul Bland in a persuasive blog post.
Category Archives: Arbitration
A commenter on my post about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Feeney asked for an explanation in plain English. Here goes. The court decided that Massachusetts courts will not enforce an arbitration clause that bans class actions when a claim really cannot be pursued without a class action. For example, if the claim is […]
Here. The story is about how car makers are using arbitration clauses to defeat consumer protections, including state lemon laws, and keep defects secret.
by Deepak Gupta The Voice of San Diego has been publishing a muli-part series on mandatory arbitration by reporter Will Carless. The most recent installment explores the war on consumer class actions and the impact of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion. Previous installments focus on arbitration secrecy, the National Arbitration Forum debacle, and the plight of an individual […]
In February, the brokerage firm Charles Schwab won a ruling from a hearing panel of FINRA, the financial industry regulatory authority, invalidating FINRA's rule against class-action bans and allowing Schwab to use a class-action ban in its customer agreements. The panel concluded that "the amended language used in Schwab's customer agreements to prohibit participation in […]
by Deepak Gupta The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2013 — legislation that would ban mandatory pre-dispute binding arbitration in consumer and employment contracts — was introduced today in both houses of Congress by Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.). New to this version of the bill–an exclusion for antitrust disputes. The House […]
Eric A. Zacks of Wayne State has written Shame, Regret, and Contract Design, forthcoming in Marquette Law Review. Here is the abstract: This Article examines whether contract design can influence the post-formation behavior of the party that did not prepare the contract. Repeat players that utilize the same contract for many transactions, as is the […]
Richard A. Bales and Mark B. Gerano, both of Northern Kentucky have written Oddball Arbitration, 30 Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal (2013). Here's the abstract: Congress passed the FAA in 1925 to resolve commercial disputes involving merchants. Since then, the Supreme Court has dramatically expanded the scope of the FAA and applied it in […]
Here. An excerpt: * * * Nearly 40 percent of dealers responding to a recent unscientific Automotive News survey also expressed concern that they soon will lose the arbitration option. "I think arbitration is on its last legs," said Tom Hudson, a partner in the Hudson Cook law firm in Hanover, Md., who predicts the […]
Here. And here's the beginning: Imagine you’ve clicked on your computer screen to accept a contract to purchase a good or service—a contract, you only realize later, that’s straight out of Kafka. The widget you’ve bought turns out to be a nightmare. You take to Yelp.com to complain about your experience—but lo, according to the […]