Consumer Law

Second Circuit Decision Strikes Down Class Action Arbitration Ban

By Brian Wolfman

In In re American Express Merchants' Litigation, No. 06-1871 (2d Cir. Jan. 30, 2009), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today struck down an arbitration clause that banned any type of class or representative litigation. The Second Circuit struck the ban on the ground that it would have effectively altered the substantive law by making the plaintiffs' alleged federal antitrust injuries impossible to vindicate. The Second Circuit relied heavily on the plaintiffs' expert affidavit showing that litigating this complex case on an individual basis would be far more costly than the value of any individual's claim. Worth reading.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on January 30, 2009 (boomark / email).