The New York Times has published a three-part in depth series (1, 2, 3) on forced arbitration, in the wake the CFPB’s proposal to prohibit class action waivers through arbitration.
The Times series covers many of the familiar problems with arbitration: the pressures on arbitrators to please the companies which select them, the denial of justice to individuals caught in the arbitration system and the lack of any appeal from unfair arbitral decisions. However, the series also deals with some less-discussed aspects of arbitration – such as the history of it’s rise to prominence through the work of corporate lawyers such as Alan Kaplinsky (now a frequent critic of the CFPB and its study on arbitration) and even the use of arbitration clauses to force victims of fraud and wrongful death to utilize religious arbitration as their only form of redress.