John A. E. Pottow of Michigan, and two recent graduates, Jacob Brege and Tara J Hawley, have written A Presumptively Better Approach to Arbitrability, 53 Canadian Business Law Journal (2013). Here's the abstract: One of the most complex problems in the arbitration field is the question of who decides disputes over the scope of an arbitrator’s […]
Category Archives: Arbitration
by Paul Bland, Senior Attorney, Public Justice, Of Counsel, Chavez & Gertler On Twitter @PblandBland In Kennedy v. Wells Fargo, Judge King of the Southern District of Florida enforced another arbitration clause that tosses out consumer claims in the multi district litigation involving checking overdraft claims. The plaintiffs had several arguments that the particular arbitration clause at […]
Peter B. Rutledge of Georgia and Christopher R. Drahozal of Kansas have written 'Sticky' Arbitration Clauses?: The Use of Arbitration Clauses after Concepcion and Amex. Here's the abstract: We present the results of the first empirical study of the extent to which businesses have switched to arbitration after AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. After the […]
by Jeff Sovern I figure if it's good enough for the CFPB, it's good enough for us: I'm part of a team, along with other professors and the Hugh L Carey Center for Dispute Resolution here at the Law School, that is crafting a survey on consumer understanding of arbitration clauses. Unlike the CFPB survey, […]
I'm presenting at a few CLE programs over the next few days and I thought readers of the blog might be interested. The first can be accessed via phone; the other two will be at the American Association of Justice's Annual Convention in San Francisco: A one-hour phone briefing on American Express v. Italian Colors: Practical Implications […]
by Jeff Sovern Here (behind paywall). Excerpt: Court decisions tied to the 1968 law fell 18% year over year during a12-month period that ended May 31, to 1,037, data from the National ConsumerLaw Center shows. That number is down 38% from the peak two years earlier. The pace of new litigation is also slowing. […]
So says Paul Bland in a persuasive blog post.
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 […]