Personal Injury Law

Tennessee Arbitration Agreements

Next month I will be flying to New York with my client and two witnesses to arbitrate a case that occurred in Tennessee. We have to argue this case out of state and pay thousands of dollars to a private arbitrator chosen by the company that injured my client. We have to arbitrate this case because my client unknowingly entered into an arbitration agreement when he signed up for services with the company. My client gave little thought to the arbitration clause because his needs were urgent and he trusted the company. If he only knew now what he knew then he would have never signed the agreement.

This week congress will be reviewing the laws surrounding arbitration agreements. Arbitrations were originally thought to be a great answer to an overcrowded court system. Unfortunately, big companies are using the agreements to discourage claims and put victims in an unfair positions. Now instead of having a claim resolved by a jury of your peers, people are forced to pay thousands of dollars to arbitrate any claim. This leaves many without any recourse. So be careful next time you are asked to sign an arbitration agreement. If you have questions with regard to an arbitration clause give us a call.

Full post as published by Tennessee Law Blog on November 06, 2007 (boomark / email).