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Full-Text Articles in Law
Using Arbitration To Eliminate Consumer Class Actions: Efficient Business Practice Or Unconscionable Abuse?, Jean R. Sternlight, Elizabeth J. Jensen
Using Arbitration To Eliminate Consumer Class Actions: Efficient Business Practice Or Unconscionable Abuse?, Jean R. Sternlight, Elizabeth J. Jensen
Law and Contemporary Problems
Companies are increasingly using arbitral class action prohibitions to insulate themselves from class action liability. These prohibitions are detrimental not only to potential class members but to the public at large in that they are preventing the law from being adequately enforced. In essence, by precluding class actions, companies are engaging in "do-it-yourself tort reform," freeing themselves from liability without having to convince legislatures to change the substantive law.
A Behavioral Analysis Of Private Judging, Christopher R. Drahozal
A Behavioral Analysis Of Private Judging, Christopher R. Drahozal
Law and Contemporary Problems
Businesses cite arbitration as a way to avoid aberrant jury verdicts, implicitly if not explicitly assuming that arbitrators make "better" decisions than juries. By contrast, consumer advocates criticize arbitration as a way for businesses to avoid paying damages to deserving claimants, effectively assuming that juries make better decisions than arbitrators. These conflicting perspectives pose an important question in the debate over predispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts: How do decisions by arbitrators compare to decisions by juries?