Jay-Z has 99 problems and hopefully arbitration will solve (at least) 1

It's one of the lesser-known facts about world-renowned rap artist Jay-Z, but he's big in the arbitration scene. For law nerds and music lovers like us, the combo has got us Crazy In Love. Here's the lowdown on two recent cases.

In 2018, Jay-Z was caught up in a US$200M trade mark dispute with clothing company Iconix. Iconix commenced arbitration proceedings with the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Under the AAA rules for arbitrator appointment, the AAA selects a list of 10 arbitrators from it's national roster and sends the list to the parties to attempt to agree on a single arbitrator. After reviewing the AAA's list, Jay-Z noticed that there was only one African-American arbitrator candidate. Jay-Z decided to apply to the New York courts to stay the arbitration proceedings on the basis of public policy and the risk of unconscious bias.