Title: AT&T v. Concepcion: The End of the Modern Consumer Class Action
Abstract: This comment evaluates the effect of AT&T v. Concepcion on the rights of the class action plaintiff in America. The national policy favoring arbitration, crafted by the Supreme Court of the United States, has expanded the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements into consumer contracts contrary to the intent of the drafters of the Federal Arbitration Act. As a result, corporations can now require consumers to arbitrate disputes on a one-on-one basis, even if the consumer was forced into a contract of adhesion or received the terms of the agreement only after signing it. This imposition on the rights of the consumer runs contrary to 1) the savings clause of the FAA, 2) prior Supreme Court case law, and 3) consumer rights under the Constitution. Thus, this comment proposes that Congress legislatively overrule AT&T v. Concepcion and either remove consumer class actions from the scope of arbitration agreement coverage or return the power to consider a class arbitration format to the arbitrators.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-08-19
Language: en
Type: article
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