Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Thoughts On Arbitrator Selection: Why My Father Was (Usually) A Good Choice, Robert H. Smit

Faculty Scholarship

Many of the letters, cards and emails of condolence that I received after my father, Professor Hans Smit, passed away last year were from lawyers who had appeared before my father, serving as arbitrator, in international arbitrations. Most said very nice things about my father, some over the top: “worthy of canonization,” “a force of nature,” “Odysseus,” an “icon.” Others were kind but more restrained (coming perhaps from attorneys whose clients fared less well before my father): “creative,” “indomitable,” “fair but scary.” One of my favorites, from a non-native English speaker, was even more neutral, describing my father simply as …

La Jurisprudence Américaine En Matière De “Class Arbitration”: Entre Débat Politique Et Technique Juridique, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Arbitration law implicates a delicate equilibrium between respect for the bargain to arbitrate and protection of basic procedural fairness. The role of law thus remains intimately linked to the rule of law, in the sense of an impartial tribunal, the right to be heard, and respect for the arbitrator's mission. The legitimacy of the process depends on how arbitrators balance the often competing goals of due process and efficiency, and whether the authorities that review awards can monitor procedural integrity without infringing an arbitrator's prerogatives on a dispute's substantive merits. Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on class arbitration serve as …

Private Regulation Of Consumer Arbitration, Christopher R. Drahozal, Samantha Zyontz

Faculty Scholarship

Arbitration providers, such as the American Arbitration Association ("AAA') and JAMS, have promulgated due process protocols to regulate the fairness of consumer and employment arbitration agreements. A common criticism of these due process protocols, however, has been that they lack an enforcement mechanism. While arbitration providers state that they enforce the protocols by refusing to administer cases in which the arbitration agreement materially fails to comply with the relevant protocol, the private nature of arbitral dispute resolution makes it difficult to verify whether providers in fact refuse to administer such cases.

This Article reports the results of the first empirical …

The Politics Of Class Action Arbitration: Jurisdictional Legitimacy And Vindication Of Contract Rights, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Exactly one year apart, the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases on “class arbitration” proceedings, one about international shipping and the other on consumer purchases of mobile telephones. Each decision inflicted damage on a claimant’s right to invoke collective action in arbitrations. Read together, the opinions serve as a prism through which to refract key elements in an increasingly politicized debate on the legal framework for arbitration, particularly within the United States.