Always Out In Binding Arbitration Texas civil court of last resort set itself up this year to reduce its work load and reward big business interests. The name of the game is binding arbitration, which big business uses to deprive consumers of the right to a public trial by a jury of peers. Businesses prefer arbitration over jury trials because it settles disputes in secret proceedings conducted by privately paid judges.
Arbitration aborts the development of consumer-protection case law.
Unlike a court of law, private arbitrators cannot force businesses to halt the most harmful or discriminatory practices. The lender argued that the homeowners signed away their right to a trial. In this case the justices are reviewing a 13th Court of Appeals opinion that cited federal consumer protections in ruling that the fine print of a sales contract cannot force homeowners into binding arbitration. Illustrating the sweeping implications of the issue, the Homestar case elicited amicus briefs favoring arbitration from Gateway and Dell computer companies. Consumer groups argue that secretive, privately funded arbitrations unfairly benefit the most powerful party to a dispute.