Corporate America: Get Behind Your Product!
It’s funny that criminals like murderers and robbers have full access to courts of general jurisdiction, but ordinary law-abiding taxpayers do not.  What I don’t understand is why so many companies have resorted to binding mandatory arbitration. Don’t they stand behind their products any more?  Why do they find it necessary to sneak BMA clauses into the fine print of sales contracts? BMA has truly reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and it needs to be stopped. Businesses need to be held accountable for the goods and services they sell instead of blaming their customers, or forcing them to surrender access to the courts.

Area foreclosures are growing more frequent
Tara was thrilled when she was able to buy her first home and live closer to her mom. Tara and Jason were both only 21 when they bought the condo...Their first mortgage was with a company offered by the builder of their townhome. The couple made one payment to the first company, and their mortgage was sold to a second company in June 2003...The checks were sent on time as arranged and cashed, but never credited to the mortgage loan.

Give Me Back My Rights!
Model State Arbitration Legislation -  What's in your new home contract?  Fair Homebuyer Contract Model

Is Justice Served?
Hundreds of judges have deserted the bench to enrich themselves in a system of private arbitration. The arena is largely unregulated and tilted, many say, in favor of big business and against the litt...The pay-for-justice phenomenon extends nationwide, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in business a year...Now, if you're rich, you not only can afford to send your kids to the best schools and obtain the best healthcare and employ the best lawyers, but you can hire the best judges too...Large companies are using arbitration to diminish many hard-won consumer rights...And take a guess: When private judges are deciding between a big company and you, which way do you think they tend to lean?...Arbitrator Norman Brand recalls one retirement party announcement for a judge going into private arbitration. The invitation, he says, was covered in dollar signs.

L.A. Times Slams Arbitration as "Private Judging"
A Law.com article suggested that arbitration was suffering a fall from grace. This Texas article suggested that companies were backing away from arbitration..."Is Justice Served?" from the L.A. Times. Written by a lawyer with 20-years' experience, it refers to arbitration as "private judging" which is "largely unregulated and tilted." Indeed, it names various arbitration companies, slams former judges who are now arbitrators, and labels it "the pay-for-justice phenomenon."

Businesses Dissatisfied With Arbitration?
According to this Texas Lawyer article, several defense lawyers contend there is a growing dissatisfaction with resolving litigation through arbitration. In what had to be a prepared statement, one attorney noted, "The nimbleness and simplicity of arbitration has been calcified over the years."

Headaches Persist After Arbitration Award
For a good example of how far some attorneys and litigants are willing to go to overturn an arbitration decision, look no further than a May 18 hearing in Dallas. On that sunny Thursday afternoon, four attorneys gathered in Judge Nancy Thomas' 160th District courtroom, where they argued for more than three hours over whether an arbitration award should be vacated because the arbitration judge allegedly had a headache.

Midday Business Report: Service members gain more loan protections
The law, resulting from legislation co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, a Missouri Republican, has gained widespread applause from service and consumer groups... Consumer lawyers say the anti-predatory law also contains a new prohibition against binding mandatory arbitration clauses and any other waivers of the right to seek legal recourse... “I think the prohibition on arbitration is huge,” said Dale Irwin, a Kansas City consumer lawyer. “Congress has finally acknowledged the unfairness of these kinds of clauses in the consumer context.” He said the law gives strength to broader efforts by consumer groups to outlaw arbitration clauses all together.

Privatizing Justice
Meanwhile, the Richardsons and Janet Ahmad, the San Antonio founder of Homeowners for Better Builders, are desperately seeking a single case of a Texas homeowner who has emerged victorious from arbitration. This quest has stumbled over two of the most controversial aspects of AAA: its coziness with the business defendants that supply it with consumer disputes, and its obsessive secrecy, which shields it from the transparency and accountability found in public courts.

The People's Lawyer
Professor Richard M. Alderman
For more than 20 years, Richard Alderman has devoted his career to educating the public about the law — on the basis that not knowing your legal rights is the same as not having any. Read more...