Originally from Journal of American Arbitration (JAA)

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I. THE BASIC ANALYSIS OF ADHESIVE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS 

A. Reducing Costs and Passing on the Savings 

B. The Source(s) of the Cost Reduction 

C. Empirical Studies and Their Inherent Limits 

D. The Importance of Enforcing Pre-Dispute Agreements to Arbitrate 

II. THE UNCONSCIONABILITY AND “EFFECTIVELY VINDICATE”  DOCTRINES 

A. Unconscionability Generally: Ex Ante, Not Ex Post 

B. The “Effectively Vindicate” Doctrine 

1. A Non-Contract-Law Ground 

2. The “Effectively Vindicate” Doctrine and State Claims 

3. The Unknown Content of the “Effectively Vindicate”  Doctrine 

C. Summary and Transition 

III. CLASS ACTIONS 

A. Arbitration Agreements that Prohibit Class Actions 

B. The Unconscionability Doctrine 

C. The “Effectively Vindicate” Doctrine 

IV. ARBITRATION COSTS 

A. The Supreme Court Gets It Right 

1. Randolph 

2. The Unconscionability and “Effectively Vindicate”

Doctrines Compared 

3. Summary and Transition 

B. Lower Courts Get It Wrong 

1. The Fundamental Error: Looking at Forum Fees in Isolation

2. The Error of Treating Contingent-Fee Cases Differently 

V. CONCLUSION