LAW OFFICE OF JOSHUA COHEN SLATKIN

November 2015 Newsletter

Arbitration-Justice Denied?

Contact Info.:
310-627-2699
jcohenslatkin@gmail.com

November 2015

Greetings!

Please enjoy my office's newsletter discussing how

arbitration clauses have effectively denied the American
people of justice.
The Brief History Behind Arbitration Clauses
The New York Times has written a three part series of
articles over arbitration clauses in an attempt to bring this
issue to the forefront of the national consciousness. In recent
years, it has become nearly impossible to apply for a credit
card, apply for a job, use a cellphone, get cable or Internet
service, or shop online without agreeing to private arbitration.

My Practice Areas
Wage and hour claims
involving meal and rest
break violations and
unpaid overtime.
Workplace
discrimination involving
gender, age, race and
disability
Employer retaliation

The New York Times found that the attempt to block class
actions was initiated with a bunch of Wall Street corporations
and their corporate lackey attorneys who were desperately
attempting to avoid expensive class action lawsuits over ten
years ago, according to court records. One of those
corporate lackey attorneys was John G. Roberts Jr., "who as
a private lawyer representing Discover Bank who
unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court to hear a case
involving class-action bans." according to the N.Y. Times.
Two Supreme Court rulings, in 2011 and 2013, enabled
corporations to effectively ban class-action lawsuits in

Worker Misclassification

contracts. In 2010, the Supreme Court heard AT&T v.

as 1099 independent

Concepcion, where customers argued that the company had

contractor
Personal injury (Auto
accidents and other
types of personal injury

promised them a free phone if they signed up for service, and

then charged them $30.22 anyway. Once again, the ruling
involved the California courts and their rejection of a classaction ban as "unconscionable." The court ruled 5-4 in favor

of AT&T. By the time the Supreme Court handed down its

cases)
DUIs and other criminal
matters

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favorable decisions, John G. Roberts Jr. was the chief justice

of the United States Supreme Court.
What an Arbitration Clause Looks like
Here is an example of what an arbitration clause looks like:
"You or we may elect to resolve any claim by individual
arbitration. Claims are decided by a neutral arbitrator."
The Argument in Favor of Arbitration
Those in favor of arbitration argue that it provides consumers

My Website
www.jcslaw4you.com

with a fairer, simpler, cheaper and faster way of resolving

disputes.
"The seven-million-member Kaiser Health plan in California
uses arbitration to resolve its disputes with patients and
employees; 90 percent of the claimants and their attorneys

::

who participated in arbitration last year reported that it was

::

N.Y. Times.

::

Corporate Victory

::

registered with Americans according to F. Paul Bland Jr., the

better than or the same as going to court." According to the

The sharp shift away from the civil justice system has barely
executive director of Public Justice (an organization I am
proud to say I recently became a member of), a national
consumer advocacy group. Mr. Bland attributed this to the
tangle of bans placed inside clauses added to contracts that
no one reads in the first place.
"This is among the most profound shifts in our legal history,"
William G. Young, a federal judge in Boston who was
appointed by President Ronald Reagan, said in an interview.
"Ominously, business has a good chance of opting out of the
legal system altogether and misbehaving without reproach."
By banning class actions, companies have essentially
disabled consumer challenges to practices like predatory
lending, wage theft and discrimination, court records show.
"Corporations are allowed to strip people of their constitutional
right to go to court," Mr. Bland said. "Imagine the reaction if

you took away people's Second Amendment right to own a

gun."

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MY ARTICLE ON GOING SOLO FEATURED
IN ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE
I wrote an article for Attonrey AT Law Magazine entlted "Going Solo:
Taking the Plunge and Never Looking Back." It can be read here:
http://www.attorneyatlawmagazine.com/los-angeles/going-solotaking-the-plunge-and-never-looking-back/