Creative State Tools in Forced Arbitration Policymaking

Forced arbitration clauses, ubiquitous in consumer contracts, can only be eliminated outright via federal law. Advocacy campaigns to restrict the practice are ongoing and have been successful so far in banning the practice for narrow legal claims and specific populations. While the Federal Arbitration Act looms, state policies have been enacted to tackle injustices borne out of the restrictive contract terms. For example, the chronic nonpayment of arbitration fees by corporate defendants has long delayed and denied justice for consumers seeking accountability. State law has sought to change that.
This webinar will cover recent efforts to chip away at forced arbitration, and how to replicate these creative strategies at the state level to fight back against this often harsh and unjust process.

What You Will Learn

• What California’s state law (and its high court’s preemption analysis) could mean for other states’ policymaking on arbitration.
• How a lawsuit against AAA could spur a positive change in the forced arbitration system, or encourage better practices.
• What factors and tactics to consider when seeking arbitration-related policy changes in your state

Speakers
David Chami is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner for Consumer Justice Law Firm with approximately 30 lawyers licensed to practice in 35 states. David’s firm primarily handles cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other adjacent consumer protection statutes. David has been involved in thousands of consumer protection lawsuits and nearly a thousand cases that have been filed in Arbitration over the past 10 years. David’s firm recently filed an anti-trust lawsuit against AAA arguing that its business model has created barriers to entry for competitors and has resulted in a forum which prevents the administration of justice rather than simply making it more efficient.

Hannah Kieschnick is a senior staff attorney on the Access to Justice Project at Public Justice, a national public interest advocacy organization that specializes in precedent-setting, socially significant civil litigation. Hannah litigates high-impact appeals across the country involving access to justice, including forced arbitration. She also regularly speaks at national conferences on topics such as arbitration and class certification. Along with co-counsel, Public Justice filed an amicus brief in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court, a recent case in the California Supreme Court that upheld the constitutionality of a state law addressing company’s failures to pay arbitration fees.

Christine Chen Zinner is the Federal Research and Advocacy Director at the Alliance for Justice, working to build a rights-expansive federal judiciary that is both demographically and professionally diverse. She began her consumer advocacy journey as the 2006 Esther Peterson Fellow at Consumer Reports and since then, has continued working on proposals to protect consumer rights, increase corporate accountability and end forced arbitration. While at the American Association for Justice, Christine was part of the team that helped pass the Speak Out Act, a federal law that prohibits the enforcement of non-disclosure agreements stemming from instances of sexual assault and harassment. Christine has also led several consumer financial justice initiatives to help build an equitable financial system that serves everyday people and not just billionaires and the powerful few. She has appeared as a consumer policy expert on NPR’s Morning Edition, and has been quoted in a number of media outlets, including the NY Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, Bloomberg, the Guardian, and the American Banker.

Christine Hines is senior policy director at the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Please note that this event is free to NACA members and non-members. All will have access to the recording after the webinar has aired. Click here to access the live webinar.