Arbitration 101 eCourse

Arbitration clauses are ubiquitous in consumer contracts. While fighting arbitration is the ideal route, taking a case in arbitration is increasingly necessary in auto, solar, FCRA, EFTA and other consumer cases. Getting up to speed in arbitration skills is no longer a nice-to-have skillset but a must-have skillset for running a successful consumer law practice.

The Arbitration101 eCourse gives you the knowledge, skills and strategies to make arbitration part of your practice.  Please note every session includes a speaker who has handled cases in AAA and Jams forums.

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What You Will Learn:
• What cases and clients to bring in arbitration
• How to respond to disputes over pre-arbitration documents and discovery
• How to prepare for the pre-hearing conference to ensure that you obtain the discovery necessary to prevail
• How to adapt courtroom trial skills to the arbitration trial
• How to handle fee petitions and other post-trial challenges

What the eCourse includes:

• Winning Before You File: Selecting the Right Cases, Forum, and Arbitrators
• Understanding Arbitration Rules for Jams & AAA
• Drafting Demands and Navigating Early Disputes in Consumer Arbitration
• Pre-Arbitration Considerations and the Arbitration Demand
• Discovery That Wins: Strategic Evidence-Building in Arbitration
• The Preliminary Hearing and Discovery
• Storytelling in Written Discovery
• Trial Skills: How to Adapt Trial Skills for Arbitration
• Arbitrating and Mediating the Actual and Punitive Damages and Potentially Large Case
• Arbitrating and Mediating the Small Dollar and Statutory Damage Cases
• Winning After the Award: Fees, Final Briefing, and Post-Arbitration Challenges
• The Arbitration Hearing and Post-Hearing Briefing

Registrants will be eligible to receive up to 14.5 CLEs for the eCourse.

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Speakers

Sparky Abraham is a former legal aid and government lawyer. He now has a solo practice called Jubilee Legal based in Oxnard, California.

Dan Blinn is the Managing Attorney of Consumer Law Group, located in Rocky Hill, CT. His practice is focused on representing consumers in claims involving auto dealer fraud, auto warranties, and auto financing. He handles both individual and class action matters.

Raina Bayas is a seasoned litigator and CEO of The Bayas Firm, PLLC, a consumer protection firm focused on Lemon Law, Auto Fraud, Diminished Value Claims. She started her litigation career at a nationwide law firm in California defending airbag and seatbelt manufacturers in product liability cases. She took the Colorado bar after volunteering for an organization that spoke to her soul, Rocky Mountain Victim’s Law Center.  She became a Project Director and eventually Legal Director. In 2013, she became a Deputy District Attorney in Boulder, County. During her five year career there, she became a part of the Consumer Protection Division, and prosecuted cases against at-risk individuals and white collar crimes. In late 2021, she created The Bayas Firm, PLLC. Raina is the Colorado Chair for NACA.

Elizabeth Carter, Vice President of the East/Central Region of JAMS
Neil Currie, Vice President of American Arbitration Association (AAA)

Jarrett Faber is an Attorney at Kneupper & Covey, P.C. Jarrett concentrates his practice on representing consumers in litigation against solar lenders after their installers close or file for bankruptcy. Jarrett’s practice is almost exclusively arbitration-based. Jarrett is on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee for the Dividend Solar Finance, LLC and Fifth Third Bank Sales and Lending Practices Multi-District Litigation.

Erika Heath fights for economic justice on behalf of consumers and employees, with a particular focus on erroneous credit/background reports, unlawful debt collection practices, bank fraud, ID theft, and other unfair trade practices. She is currently Of Counsel to Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., and a Lecturer at Berkeley Law.  

Allison Krumhorn has been a consumer protection attorney for over 20 years, litigating in both court and in arbitration, in the class action context as well as high-value individual cases.

David Marco is one of the founding partners of SmithMarco, P.C. He currently represents consumers in individual and class action cases arising out of the EFTA, the FCRA, the FDCPA and other consumer-related statutes. David has arbitrated hundreds of cases, and tried countless cases to verdict, including an approximately $250,000 arbitration award against Citibank for violating the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

Matt Osborne practices in Northglenn, CO. His practice focuses on FCRA, auto fraud, and bad faith insurance. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he served five years in the Navy. Matt went to law school at Michigan State. He is married with four kids. His main hobby is suing big corporations.

Larry P. Smith is a consumer attorney, handling matters involving the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Electronic Funds Transfers Act, as well as state consumer fraud/UDAP matters for over 18 years. He is the Managing Partner at SmithMarco, P.C. Mr. Smith has tried dozens of consumer rights cases to verdict in the state and federal courts of Illinois, Georgia and Wisconsin and has arbitrated over 700 cases.

Craig Rothburd practices law in Tampa, FL, where he devotes a considerable amount of his complex civil litigation practice on consumer law and litigation, with a special focus on class action litigation, including insurance, mortgage loan servicing, truth in lending, deceptive practices, and consumer statutory violations.

Dawn McCraw is passionate about consumer rights and the increasing need for consumers to fight inaccurate and damaging credit reporting and illegal debt collection. Her experience in credit and debt goes back more than fifteen years when she co-owned a company which helped consumers with credit and debt issues. Dawn has acted as the lead attorney in hundreds of FCRA cases and is currently Senior Counsel at the Consumer Justice Law Firm.

Brian Warwick has been practicing class action law for more than twenty years and has been appointed Class Counsel by judges across the country.

Ronald Wilcox has been a consumer protection attorney since 1995, with an office in San Jose. Ron is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College and has tried consumer protection cases in federal and state court, as well as JAMS and AAA. He is a member of the CAOC, CAALA, and NACBA. He has presented webinars and spoken at national conferences on consumer law and arbitration. He was awarded Santa Clara University’s Community Law Center’s Community Service Award. Ron is the author of “Conducting Individual Arbitrations” in NCLC’s Consumer Arbitration Agreements.

Tashia Zeigler is a Georgia attorney with more than 20 years of experience representing consumers in complex litigation, including automobile warranty, auto fraud, and consumer protection matters. She previously served as Director of Georgia’s Lemon Law and Dispute Resolution Program at the Georgia Department of Law and as Staff Attorney for Automobile at the Georgia Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection.  In her consumer practice, Ms. Zeigler handles warranty, Lemon Law, and fraud litigation.  She also serves as an adjunct instructor at Savannah Technical College’s Paralegal Studies Program.  She is the current Chair of the Consumer Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia.