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Mass Arbitration

Courts are often unsympathetic to the ethical, fairness and procedural arguments raised by the defense bar. McGuireWoods provides sophisticated legal counsel to counter this judicial resistance, representing clients across industries that are targeted by mass actions, including financial services, retail, automotive and technology.

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McGuireWoods’ coast-to-coast team of litigation attorneys develops innovative strategies to navigate the complexities and mitigate the risks associated with mass arbitration. We provide comprehensive legal counsel on clients’ arbitration agreement provisions, guide clients in responding to pre-litigation demands and craft strategies that align with their business needs.
 
With extensive experience and deep mass filing knowledge across arbitral forums, McGuireWoods delivers tailored strategies that protect clients’ interests and effectively manage risks. Our lawyers are prepared to leverage an arbitral forum’s specific rules throughout all stages of the defense process. Determined to deliver top value to clients, our team is structured to drive efficiency in handling the individual merits arbitrations.

Representative Experience

  • Obtained first-of-its-kind order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirming an American Arbitration Association (AAA) Process Arbitrator’s order requiring the claimants to provide basic information about their claims to proceed.
  • Won critical discovery issues at initial pre-trial scheduling conferences on the first wave of individual merits arbitrations leading to claimants’ counsel’s decision to dismiss all arbitration demands.
  • Reduced a mass arbitration attack from thousands of claimants to a few hundred, shutting down the entire attack in the AAA arbitral forum.
  • Lead counsel to a Fortune 100 retailer in over 8,000 mass arbitration claims filed in AAA on employment claims.
  • Prepared amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on behalf of the Retail Litigation Center related to ethical abuses stemming from plaintiffs’ firms’ actions in mass arbitration.
  • Represented financial institutions in defense of mass arbitration attacks on Regulation E Disclosure requirements.
  • Leveraged pre-mediation data exchange to obtain beneficial settlement for less than 10% of initial demands.
  • Prepared amicus brief to California Supreme Court on behalf of the Retail Litigation Center related to the Federal Arbitration Act’s preemption of California statute requiring harsh penalties for delayed payment of arbitral fees.
  • Reviewed and revised clients’ arbitration programs implementing AAA, National Arbitration and Mediation, and Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services as service providers following mass arbitration attacks on various industries.

McGuireWoods has been at the forefront of mass arbitrations since the initial wave in 2018 and continues to help the world’s largest and most influential companies navigate the evolving challenges of mass actions.

Senior Contacts

Full Team