Mass Arbitrations: The New Landscape Of Dispute Resolution And Its Challenges

Taking a closer look at the JAMS Mass Arbitration Procedures and Guidelines

What are mass arbitrations, and why in recent years have there been so many of them? The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear in a series of well-known, sometimes maligned decisions that class action and class arbitration waivers are absolutely enforceable and that state attempts to preclude class or collective action waivers in arbitration agreements are preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. Not surprisingly, most arbitration agreements in the consumer and employment spaces (among others) specifically exclude class, collective and representative actions. Companies often also add language precluding consolidation of claims. This has resulted in the filing of mass arbitrations, hundreds or even thousands of similar individual claims filed by common counsel against the same respondent.