National Arbitration Forum Lawsuit Exposes Bias

A lawsuit filed against the National Arbitration Forum exposes the inner workings and bias of the nation's largest forced arbitration firm.

Judge rules on the motions to dismiss. Click here to read the ruling.

National Arbitration Forum is a St. Louis Park-based company that settles credit card debts. The company administers hundreds of thousands of arbitration claims each year by about 1,600 arbitrators around the country.

It is alleged that despite claiming it is impartial, the National Arbitration Forum works against consumers by convincing major credit card companies and other creditors to insert forced arbitration clauses into customer agreements. These clauses generate revenue for the National Arbitration Forum by authorizing and actually requiring it to decide disputes between consumers and credit card and other companies.

Mandatory binding arbitration clauses are hidden in the fine print of everyday contracts from credit cards agreements to employment contracts to nursing home agreements, and force consumers to unknowingly sign away their legal rights if a dispute arises. These arbitration clauses force consumers to agree they cannot sue the company in court but must instead submit to arbitration in front of an arbitrator that is usually chosen by the company. Arbitration typically favors companies over customers. In fact, ongoing litigation on behalf of the city of San Francisco claims that the National Arbitration Forum ruled in favor of customers in just 30 of 18,075 credit-card cases that were heard before its arbitrators between January 2003 and March 2007.

Click here to read the complaint.

Zimmerman Reed has a distinct statewide and national reputation for excellence in consumer protection litigation. If you participated in an arbitration with the National Arbitration Forum and have paid a fee to the National Arbitration Forum or a judgment as a result and would like more information, please call attorney David Cialkowski at 1.800.755.0098 for a free consultation or click here to fill out an online free case review.