Corporations throughout America are increasingly inserting mandatory arbitration clauses in their form consumer, employment, and investor agreements that prohibit lawsuits against them and force their customers, workers, and shareholders out of court and into arbitration heavily weighted in the companies’ favor. 

These clauses, usually buried in small print, are designed to eradicate the right to a day in court.  There’s often no knowledge or choice. For workers, keeping a job is viewed as “agreeing” to the provision. Nearly all credit card, phone, mortgage and computer companies now use them, as do banks, HMOs, car dealers, doctors, and insurers. The courts are now deciding whether such clauses can be used to make customers, employees, and shareholders contractually “waive” all their rights. 

WHAT PUBLIC JUSTICE IS DOING

Our Mandatory Arbitration Abuse Prevention Project is the acknowledged national leader in the battle against corporate efforts to use arbitration to eliminate court access. Our victory in Ting v. AT&T was the biggest in the country against mandatory arbitration.  We have had up to three lawyers working full-time on the project, battling and helping others to battle this pernicious trend. We’ve even written the book on the subject – Consumer Arbitration Agreements – now in its updated, fifth edition.

See our Mandatory Arbitration Case Index to learn how we are succeeding.

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