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Plaintiffs wrestle with class action arbitration bans
- Article from:
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Lawyers USA
- Article date:
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November 19, 2007
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright 2007 Lawyers USA. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Consumer rights lawyers are challenging corporate efforts to
avoid class action arbitration.
A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the doors to class action
arbitrations. The Court held that if an arbitration clause is silent
regarding class actions, it's up to the arbitrator (applying state
law) to decide whether class arbitration will proceed. (Green Tree
Financial Corp. v. Bazzle, 123 S.Ct. 2402).
Since then, however, banks, credit companies and employers have
been adding waivers to arbitration contracts specifically exempting
class actions from arbitration.
Consumer lawyers have responded by challenging the waivers in
both state and federal court.
The result is a legal quagmire that ...