Clarifying Section 7 to Accommodate OArb

Professor Amy J. Schmitz, John Deaver Drinko-Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law and Co-Director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute Responsible Data Science CoP at The Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law, has written a draft book chapter titled “Clarifying Section 7 to Accommodate OArb,” The Federal Arbitration Act: Successes, Failures, and a Roadmap for Reform (Richard A. Bales & Jill I. Gross, editors, forthcoming 2024 Cambridge University Press); Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 797.  In her scholarly work, Professor Schmitz proposes potential changes to Section 7 of the Federal Arbitration Act that are designed to facilitate online arbitration. 

Here is the abstract:

Updating FAA Section 7 for the Digital Age

Arbitration clauses have become a norm in not only commercial business-to-business contracts, but also business-to-consumer (“B2C”) and employment contracts. At the same time, arbitration has changed since the adoption of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in 1925. Arbitration has increasingly moved online, making online arbitration (what I have termed OArb) a norm. Still the FAA has not changed to recognize the prevalence of OArb. This book looks at possible changes that may be needed, and this Chapter focuses on how Section 7 of the FAA should evolve to assist OArb. This is a draft of the book chapter that will be edited and become Amy J. Schmitz, Updating FAA Section 7 for the Digital Age, THE FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT: SUCCESSES, FAILURES, AND A ROADMAP FOR REFORM (Richard A. Bales & Jill I. Gross, editors, forthcoming 2024 Cambridge University Press). Comments are welcome!

This and other publications written by Professor Schmitz are available for download via the Social Science Research Network.

Photo by: Aaron Burden on Unsplash