The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s recent publication of an 80-page report titled “Mass Arbitration Shakedown: Coercing Unjustified Settlements” has fanned the flames on an already heated debate between consumer advocates and industry lawyers over the propriety of mass arbitrations. 

We have addressed mass arbitration issues and potential defenses extensively in our prior blogs.… Continue Reading

An appeal pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is poised to decide whether an arbitration agreement that requires mass arbitration disputes to be resolved by multiple rounds of bellwether arbitrations lawfully facilitates a quicker and more efficient resolution of the disputes than would be achieved by pursuing thousands of individual arbitrations—as appellant Verizon Wireless, Inc.… Continue Reading

Professor Glover is the author of the first major academic study of mass arbitration, which is soon to be published as a law review article.  In Part II of this two-part podcast, we discuss the economics of mass arbitration, including the minimum claim amount necessary to make mass arbitration viable and how consumers’ recovery in arbitration compares with their recovery in class actions, the use of targeted advertising and other methods by plaintiffs’ attorneys to reach potential claimants, and changes companies might consider to their arbitration agreements to address the growing use of mass arbitration, such as changes addressing cost sharing and carve outs for claims eligible for adjudication in small claims court.… Continue Reading

Prof. Glover is the author of the first major academic study of mass arbitration, which is soon to be published as a law review article.  In Part I of this two-part podcast, after reviewing the historical background of the Federal Arbitration Act, key SCOTUS arbitration decisions, and the evolution of mass arbitration, Prof.… Continue Reading