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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Employment and Workers Comp

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, April 17, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will provide an overview of the mass arbitration process and how it is being used to leverage up-front settlements with employers who have been subject to exorbitant case initiation fees before getting to the merits of the case. The panel will take an in-depth look at the American Arbitration Association's (AAA) newly revised rules and fee schedules that may help alleviate this issue and discuss how these changes may affect defense strategies moving forward. The panel will also address whether it is still in employers' best interests to include mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements and offer best practices for drafting these clauses.

Faculty

Jennifer Riley
Partner, Vice Chair Workplace Class Action Group
Duane Morris LLP.

Ms. Riley has defended companies faced with significant complex litigation matters for more than two decades. She regularly defends companies facing class actions, collective actions, pattern or practice lawsuits, and other types of representative proceedings, ranging in size from dozens to tens of thousands of claims. Ms. Riley has represented clients facing bet-the-company cases in a wide range of complex civil litigation matters in federal and state courts across the country. She also provides counsel to employers seeking to navigate thorny issues, including investigations, compliance, and terminations. Ms. Riley is a regular speaker, author, and presenter regarding class action issues, legal developments, and challenges that companies may face in the future. 

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Christopher C. Murray
Shareholder, Chair Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Mr. Murray assists attorneys throughout the firm and clients nationwide to create, roll out, and enforce effective employment arbitration agreements and other ADR programs. He has extensive experience with class/collective action waivers in employment arbitration. He was part of the Ogletree team that successfully defended the use of such waivers in the Fifth Circuit’s landmark decision in D.R. Horton, Inc. v. N.L.R.B. Since then, he has successfully defended the enforceability of class action waivers in numerous subsequent cases and submitted an amicus brief on the subject on behalf of several major employers’ associations in the Supreme Court’s Epic Systems case. Mr. Murray assists clients and the Firm’s attorneys to draft or revise arbitration programs focused on a client’s specific needs and goals and in light of changing law and evolving best practices.

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Description

Class action waivers and mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements have resulted in a surge of mass arbitrations against employers which have proven most costly and may have counsel and their clients wondering whether mandatory arbitration clauses provide any real advantage.

In mass arbitration, plaintiffs' counsel may file thousands of similar individual claims that can be extremely costly to employers due to the exorbitant initiation fees that arbitration services providers charge per case before even getting to the merits of the case. In addition to case initiation fees, employers are also faced with the costs of litigating the same set of facts, potentially thousands of times, over the course of many years. As a result, even the threat of mass arbitration has been used as leverage for early settlement, and employers have done so even where claims may be frivolous or unlikely to succeed.

In an apparent response to the threat of arbitration being weaponized and used as settlement leverage, the AAA has amended its Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules and fee schedules, effective Jan. 15, 2024, "to save time, reduce costs and foster constructive dialogue right from the start." The revised rules may result in a change of strategy for defense counsel and their clients.

Listen as our expert panel provides an overview of the mass arbitration process and takes an in-depth look at the new AAA rules and how these may affect defense strategy moving forward. The panel will also address weighing the risks and benefits of using mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements under the shadow of mass arbitration and how to draft these to best protect clients.

Outline

  1. Introduction: the rise of mass arbitration
  2. Overview of the mass arbitration process and its use to leverage early settlements
  3. AAA's amended rules
    1. Notable changes
    2. Effect on defense strategy
  4. Mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements moving forward
    1. Weighing the risks and benefits
    2. Best practices for drafting
  5. Practitioner takeaways

Benefits

The panel will review these and other important considerations:

  • How has the threat of mass arbitration been used to leverage early settlements by employers?
  • What are the significant changes to the AAA's rules, and how may these affect defense strategy moving forward?
  • How should counsel advise their clients on whether to continue to include mandatory arbitration clauses in their employment agreements? What are best practices for drafting to mitigate risk, especially in the event of mass arbitration?