In today's episode, we take a look at arbitration, an increasingly popular device being used to take disputes out of the courtroom. What might arbitration mean for you? Listen and find out! We begin, however, with a question from patron Faye Reppas, who asks about HR 2802, the so-called "First Amendment Defense Act." Next, in our main segment, we take a look at the implications of arbitration -- particularly in the employment context, where your employer may have inserted a mandatory arbitration clause in your employment agreement. What does arbitration do? Can you be compelled to do it? We break it all down for you. After our main segment, we tackle another listener question; this one from Eric Walls about corporate personhood. Finally, we end with a brand new Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question #11 regarding the testimony of a plaintiff who's had surgical sponges accidentally left inside of her (a surprisingly common occurrence). Remember that TTTBE issues a new question every Friday, followed by the answer on next Tuesday's show. Don't forget to play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s)! Show Notes & Links
- This is the text of the proposed HR 2802, the First Amendment Defense Act.
- Andrew wrote two articles on arbitration for his firm blog: you can read Part 1 and Part 2 for more in-depth analysis.
- Here's a link to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.
- Here is a link to Andrew's appearance on the David Pakman show.