KU Law News
KU Law News
March 11, 2009
KU law professor leads consumer arbitrations study as policy debate heats up
Chris DrahozalADVISORY: Policy briefing to discuss arbitration study by the Searle Civil Justice Institute will take place at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 11, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
LAWRENCE – A University of Kansas law professor’s work on an in-depth study of consumer arbitrations will put him in the spotlight during a policy briefing today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Chris Drahozal, the John M. Rounds Distinguished Professor of Law, will present the findings of the study, which he and others conducted on behalf of the Searle Civil Justice Institute (SCJI) at Northwestern University School of Law. As the policy debate over pending legislation to ban pre-dispute arbitration agreements in consumer and other contracts heats up, the study offers an empirical look at consumer arbitrations that were administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA).
“The study shows that due process protocols to protect consumers’ procedural rights are routinely enforced in AAA consumer arbitrations,” said Geoff Lysaught, director of the Searle Civil Justice Institute. “Access to justice is provided in a relatively inexpensive and expeditious manner, and outcomes are not biased in favor of businesses that arbitrate on a repeat basis.”
The SCJI report, “Consumer Arbitration Before the American Arbitration Association,” offers timely research for policymakers to consider as the debate over arbitration legislation escalates.
The Arbitration Fairness Act, reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last month, would ban pre-dispute arbitration clauses from consumer, employment and franchise contracts. Advocates argue that such arbitration favors business and is unfair to consumers.
“The study of AAA case files and other data involving consumer arbitrations is the most comprehensive empirical research to date on the use of consumer arbitration,” according to Drahozal, chair of the SCJI Consumer Arbitration Task Force.
The AAA, a not-for-profit organization that administers arbitrations, is cited in many contracts. More than 10 years ago, the AAA convened a group of officials from government, nonprofits, the bar and consumer organizations to develop due process protocols. AAA claims to follow these voluntary protocols in consumer cases.
“The next step will be to examine how consumer cases are resolved in traditional court proceedings,” Drahozal said, “to provide a basis for comparison with AAA consumer arbitrations.”
“The report is in keeping with the Searle Civil Justice Institute’s mission to produce timely research that is useful to policymakers, judges and practitioners,” said Henry Butler, executive director of the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth.
View the full report online at www.SearleArbitration.org.
The primary dataset examined for the study consists of 301 AAA consumer arbitrations that were closed by an award between April and December 2007. This sample of cases was then coded for approximately 200 variables describing various aspects of the arbitration process, including characteristics of the arbitration clause.
Founded in early 2008 as a division of the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, the Searle Civil Justice Institute (SCJI) aims to become the preeminent national source of large-scale, empirical studies on public policy issues related to the nation’s civil justice system. The Searle Center was founded in 2006 as a unit of Northwestern University School of Law with a generous grant from the late Daniel C. Searle, longtime philanthropist and Northwestern University trustee.