Times Investigation Lambastes Arbitration Clauses, With A Tilt At Justice Roberts

A front-page investigative piece in the New York Times take a critical look at the rise of arbitration agreements and class action bans in consumer and employment contracts, calling the trend “a far-reaching power play orchestrated by American corporations.” The article singles out Supreme Court Justice John Roberts not only for his record on the Supreme Court, but for his earlier involvement with the issue as a defense lawyer, representing Discover Bank in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Supreme Court at that time to hear a case involving class-action bans. The Times article is also an origin story. It finds that it was a particular lawyer and a particular group of corporate participants who, not that long ago, conceived of linking arbitration clauses with a ban on class actions. The rest is – in the words of  William G. Young, a federal judge in Boston and Reagan appointee – “among the most profound shifts in our legal history.”