This article examines the NASD's proposal to change its Code of Arbitration Procedure to require NASD arbitrators to write explained awards upon the customer's request. The article evaluates the pros and cons of the proposal, and the policy reasons why such a rule change might be desirable. The...

In the early part of this decade, the Supreme Court's decisions interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) strictly enforced pre-dispute arbitration clauses (PDAAs) with class action waivers and so-called “delegation” provisions in consumer contracts. Just after the Court's 2013 ruling...

In this essay, I examine recent Congressional efforts to ban pre-dispute arbitration clauses in securities brokerage account agreements and thus eliminate mandatory arbitration of customer-broker disputes. In the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act, Congress would ban such clauses in all consumer...

In light of the twentieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Shearson v. McMahon enforcing a pre-dispute arbitration clause in a brokerage customer's account agreement, the author revisits the assumptions of the McMahon Court supporting its conclusion that arbitration is fair to...