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Consumer Problems And Adr: An Analysis Of The Federal Trade Commission-Ordered General Motors Mediation And Arbitration Program, Arthur Best
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This Article evaluates a controversial mediation and arbitration program established by General Motors (GM) for owners of certain cars. It began in 1984, under the terms of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order settling charges that GM had deceptively failed to inform buyers that particular models of cars contained components that had unusually low durability. When the settlement was proposed, debate centered on whether the public interest would be served best by: 1) creation of mediation and arbitration opportunities for individual owners; or 2) prosecution of a single action seeking uniform compensation for all owners. One commissioner feared that …
Consumers Swallow Another Lemon: Agency Consent Order Preemption Of State Lemon Law Standards For Informal Dispute Resolution - General Motors V. Abrams, Gregory L. Barnes
Consumers Swallow Another Lemon: Agency Consent Order Preemption Of State Lemon Law Standards For Informal Dispute Resolution - General Motors V. Abrams, Gregory L. Barnes
Journal of Dispute Resolution
This Note will first examine the background of GM v. Abrams, which involves a successful attempt by General Motors (GM) to use a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order to block the application of New York's "Lemon Law" 6 to the arbitration program contained in the order.7 Second, it will discuss the legal context of the dispute (chiefly the extension of the federal preemption doctrine to "implicitly preemptive" agency consent orders). Third, it will outline the court's application of that doctrine in the instant case. Finally, it will offer a critical evaluation of both the legal and policy grounds of …