In a column in the Los Angeles Times David Lazarus wrote, “If you have a credit card, a cellphone or even just a job, chances are you’ve already signed away your right to sue if something goes wrong.” He adds, “Mandatory arbitration clauses have become a routine part of the fine print in most financial, telecom and employment contracts, as well as numerous other customer agreements.” Usually, the clauses “require you to abandon the right to a jury trial or class-action lawsuit, and to agree instead to take any grievances to a professional arbitrator.” However, “because of the way the system is set up, critics say, arbitration often favors the company and not the individual. So the likelihood of a positive outcome (for you) can be less than if you had pursued litigation.” He concluded, “no company should be permitted to deny customers their right to a jury trial or to participate in class-action lawsuits.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
