Teresa J. Verges, Lecturer in Law and Director of the University of Miami School of Law Investor Rights Clinic, has published “Evolution of the Arbitration Forum as a Response to Mandatory Arbitration,” Nevada Law Journal, Forthcoming. In her journal article, Ms. Verges discusses potential changes to the arbitration process that may be merited due to the ongoing expansion of mandatory arbitration agreements.
Here is the abstract:
Decades of Supreme Court decisions elevating the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) has led to an explosion of mandatory arbitration in the United States. A form of dispute resolution once used primarily between merchants and businesses to resolve their disputes, arbitration has expanded to myriad sectors, such as consumer and service disputes, investor disputes, employment and civil rights disputes. This article explores this expansion to such non-traditional contexts and argues that this shift requires the arbitral forum to evolve to increase protections for forced participants and millions of potential claims that involve matters of public policy. By way of example, decades of forced arbitration of securities disputes has led to increased due process and procedural reforms, even as concerns remain about investor access, the lack of transparency and investors’ perception of fairness.
This and other research papers written by Ms. Verges may be downloaded for free from the Social Science Research Network.
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