Arbitration continues to be a growing preference for dispute resolution. Mandatory arbitration provisions are found in a variety of commercial contracts, especially in consumer agreements. In fact, it has been reported in a 2018 study that 81 of America’s 100 largest companies use binding arbitration agreements as a standard provision in their consumer contracts. While arbitration is not yet as prevalent in business-to-business agreements, the complexity of these types of agreements encourages using arbitration. In franchising, mandatory arbitration clauses have grown in popularity because, among other reasons, they can serve as a shield against class actions in the form of an arbitral class waiver...

Originally published by Texas Bar Journal - October 2, 2023.