The Camel and the Last Straw or the Frog and the Boiling Water: Pick Your Parable By George H. Friedman* The current issue of the Securities Arbitration Commentator has as its lead story an article I wrote with the title above. For those who don’t subscribe, here is the Reader’s Digest version. Or maybe the…
Ten Things about Litigation that Arbitration Critics Won’t Tell You by George H. Friedman* [republished from an earlier post] The recent uproar over General Mills’ decision to adopt and later retract a new policy by which consumers, by engaging in activities such as downloading a recipe, or participating in a contest, or “liking” the firm…
The recent uproar over General Mills’ decision to adopt and later retract a new policy by which consumers, by engaging in activities such as downloading a recipe, or participating in a contest, or “liking” the firm on Facebook, would unwittingly be agreeing to arbitrate, certainly refocused the spotlight on the prevalent use of mandatory, predispute arbitration in consumer transactions.
American Arbitration Association Creates Consumer Arbitration Clause Registration Requirement: A Reaction The guest blog post by the Securities Arbitration Commentator on this topic is thought-provoking. As described by the Commentator, “the American Arbitration Association (‘AAA’) announced on July 10th that its Consumer Arbitration Rules are being amended effective September 1st to require firms to register consumer predispute arbitration agreements…
Last month, the online community (that’s pretty much the whole world, folks) was stunned by a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“EU COJ”), which held individuals had a right to request that Google remove data “that appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed and in the light of the time that has elapsed.” The May 13th ruling quickly became known as the “Right to be forgotten” decision. Although the holding does not apply in the United States, and First Amendment issues would very likely dictate a different outcome here, the implications are potentially enormous.
Happy 40th, Rubik’s Cube: Solving the Litigation Puzzle Today marks the fortieth birthday of Rubik’s Cube, that maddening device that since 1974 has been defying solution. This reminded me that forty years ago people were searching in vain for a solution to the problems associated with litigation. Unlike Rubik’s Cube, arbitration – especially online arbitration…
Ten Things about Litigation that Arbitration Critics Won’t Tell You by George H. Friedman* The recent uproar over General Mills’ decision to adopt and later retract a new policy by which consumers, by engaging in activities such as downloading a recipe, or participating in a contest, or “liking” the firm on Facebook, would unwittingly be…
What do A-Rod, the NLRB, and General Mills have in Common? The title of this post is not a riddle. On Jeopardy! it would be the correct response to “They evidently read George Friedman’s blog at Arbitration Resolution Services.” Three times in recent months, I have blogged about the above cast of characters, and urged…
Enough is Enough: Time to Eliminate the “Hidden Arbitration Clause Trick” “A day of reckoning is coming on predispute arbitration agreements in consumer arbitration. A dichotomy is developing between arms-length pre-dispute arbitration agreements and those imposed in an adhesion contract with consumers (and perhaps employees). This will be addressed in the next several years by…
A George Bailey “Hat Trick” – Et Tu, 9th Circuit? Several months ago in this blog I described a “hat trick,” which is a hockey term for when a player scores three (or more) goals in one game. For those who have somehow eluded ever seeing the holiday classic “It’s a wonderful Life,” the other…