Richard M. Alderman is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Houston Law Center, where he holds the Dwight Olds Chair in Law and directs the Consumer Law Center.
Watchdog Blog Bites Arbitration for Business Bent
In a nutshell, [binding mandatory arbitration] is a private, corporate-dominated secret "court" that overwhelmingly rules against consumers. In this world, merely by signing your name on the dotted line, you have forfeited your right to a trial by jury. If someone steals your identity and runs out to buy a $4,000 plasma TV – and the credit card company wants YOU to pay for it – the dispute will automatically bypass the public civil justice system. Instead, it goes straight to an arbitrator who may have heard thousands of cases for that same credit card company.
I am among the many critics who have assailed consumer arbitration. This report documents how consumer arbitration is designed not to offer an alternative forum, but rather to deny consumers their legal rights.
