Arbitration / ADR

Guest wrote: Will justice more and more in the future be the province of arbitrators and mediators and judges instead of juries --and will this be a threat to the individual rights of Americans

A very good question now the subject of serious debate in the United States. While it is true that there have only been a handful of franchise cases (most notably DAI v. Casarotto ), there is a 35-year long trend towards favoring arbitrations. An amicus brief in a recent consumer (non-franchise) case may be of interest for those wanting some technical legal background and analysis.

I agree with Guest that there are real concerns for all of us as citizens when the Federal Arbitration Act   (FAA) is used to overrule the will of the state legislatures. (Note: If you are interested in the articles linked to, most colleges and larger libraries subscribe to the electronic database and can get you copies)

Since Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is such an important topic for franchise purchasers, I have started this on its own thread. Most new franchisees I have ever spoken with do not even know that they cannot go to court, and that even an arbitral remedy may be cost-prohibitive. Many consumers and many employees will be finding that an ADR clause in their consumer contract or employment contract may be the most important clause they never read.

Please do post any ADR experiences, and your thoughts pro or con, as well as thoughts on the mega issue raised by Guest.