By Liz Coyle – American Bar Association
Americans routinely enter into contracts for everything from cell phone service to apartment leases, even employment, but many sign contracts without fully understanding that their signature potentially forfeits their fundamental rights—such as the right to join together in a class action lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a spate of rulings in recent years, has broadened the power of the Federal Arbitration Act, allowing corporations to insulate themselves from liability by forcing consumers to preemptively give up these rights.
© 2020. Published in The GP Solo, Vol. 37, No. 3, May/June 2020, by the American Bar Association.Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.