Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong

This is the first book to deal comprehensively with class, mass and collective arbitration in a comparative context (or with any of these procedures individually).
Offers a detailed comparison of the different types of specialized rules on large-scale arbitration, including some that have not yet been discussed in legal literature.
Discusses how large-scale arbitration is likely to develop in new jurisdictions, either as an ad hoc mechanism or under non-specialized arbitral rules.
Provides numerous new authorities including cases and statutes that have not previously been discussed in legal literature.

Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong

Description

Class arbitration first developed in the United States in the 1980s as a means of providing large numbers of individuals with the opportunity to assert their claims at the same time and in the same proceeding. Large-scale arbitration has since spread beyond U.S. borders, with collective arbitration being seen in Europe and mass arbitration being used in the international investment regime. Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law considers all three forms of arbitration as a matter of domestic and international law, providing arbitrators, advocates and scholars with the tools they need to evaluate these sorts of procedural mechanisms.

The book covers the best-known decisions in the field - Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. Animal Feeds International Corp. and AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion from the U.S. Supreme Court and Abaclat v. Argentine Republic from the world of investment arbitration - as well as specialized rules promulgated by the American Arbitration Association, JAMS and the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS). The text introduces dozens of previously undiscussed judicial opinions and covers issues ranging from contractual (or treaty) silence and waiver to regulatory concerns and matters of enforcement. The book discusses the entire timeline of class, mass and collective arbitration, ranging from the devices' historical origins through the present and into the future. Lawyers in a wide variety of jurisdictions will benefit from the material contained in this text, which is the first full-length monograph to address large-scale arbitration as a matter of national and international law.

Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong

Chapter 1 Introduction
I. Introduction
II. A Brief History of Large-Scale Arbitration
III. Uses of Class, Mass and Collective Arbitration

Chapter 2 Rules and Procedures
I. Introduction
II. Initiation of Class, Mass or Collective Arbitrations
III. Procedures

Chapter 3 Is Large-Scale Arbitration Really Arbitration?
I. Introduction
II. The Question Arises - Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp.
III. Distinguishing Class, Mass and Collective Arbitration From Other Multiparty Proceedings
IV. Class, Mass and Collective Proceedings and the Nature of Arbitration
V. Do Class, Mass or Collective Arbitration Change The Nature Of Arbitration?
VI. Forward-Looking Concerns

Chapter 4 Interpreting the Arbitration Agreement
I. Introduction
II. Interpretation of Arbitration Agreements in Cases Involving Class, Mass and Collective Claims
III. Interpreting Agreements That Are Silent or Ambiguous Regarding Class, Mass or Collective Treatment
IV. Waivers of Class, Mass or Collective Treatment

Chapter 5 Regulatory Elements of Class, Mass and Collective Arbitration
I. Introduction
II. Large-Scale Litigation as a Form of Regulation
III. Regulatory Arbitration
IV. Regulatory Arbitration in Context

Chapter 6 The Future of Class, Mass and Collective Arbitration
I. Introduction
II. Relative Benefits of Class, Mass and Collective Proceedings
III. New Forms of Class, Mass and Collective Arbitration
IV. Creating an Enforceable Arbitration Agreement for Class, Mass or Collective Disputes

Chapter 7 Enforcement of Class, Mass and Collective Awards
I. Introduction
II. Issues Regarding International Enforcement of Large-Scale Arbitral Awards
III. Issues Regarding National Enforcement of Large-Scale Arbitral Awards
IV. Conclusion

Appendix

Spanish Statute on Collective Consumer Arbitration

Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong

Author Information

S.I. Strong is the Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri School of Law. She is a leading authority on class, mass and collective arbitration, having published over twenty-five articles on large-scale and multiparty procedures in Europe and the Americas in addition to numerous other books and articles on international dispute resolution and comparative law. Professor Strong has extensive experience as a dual-qualified practitioner (U.S.-England), having acted as Counsel at Baker & McKenzie after working in the New York and London offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Professor Strong has taught at Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C. as well as the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Professor Strong has provided expert assistance to state agencies in various jurisdictions and is the author of International Commercial Arbitration: A Guide for U.S. Judges (2012). Professor Strong's scholarly work has won numerous awards and has been cited as authority to the U.S. Supreme Court and in ICSID awards. Professor Strong, who holds a Ph.D. in law from the University of Cambridge, a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, a J.D. from Duke University, an M.P.W. from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from the University of California, sits as an arbitrator on a variety of commercial matters.

Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong

Reviews and Awards

"Professor Strong's latest work is a comprehensive and thoughtful treatment of a topic of exceptional practical and academic interest. In both descriptive and prescriptive discussions, Professor Strong's analysis is invariably both informative and provocative. A must for both practitioners and academics." -Gary Born, Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

"A superb analysis of a complex, and increasingly significant, area of arbitration law and practice." -William Park, Professor of Law, Boston University. President, London Court of International Arbitration. General Editor, Arbitration International

"Professor Strong's work is an extremely welcome and important addition to the commentary on the use and development of group arbitration. More generally, it is a very valuable contribution to the broader subject of arbitration and its theoretical roots." -Gary Born, Kluwer Arbitration Blog

"Professor Strong's prior work has already been drawn on in arbitral awards addressing large-scale claims. That her views are now recorded in what is most likely to become the leading text on the subject will likely ensure that this continues. Additionally it seems probable that her book will become a go-to resource for counsel who find themselves advising on such disputes." -Simon Maynard, The Journal of World Investment and Trade

"Rigorously constructed and extremely well written. A superb addition to our arbitration library." - Bernard Hanotiau, Arbitration International

Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law

S.I. Strong

From Our Blog

Class arbitration at home and abroad

By S.I. Strong To paraphrase the Bard, the course of class arbitration never did run smooth. Ever since its inception in the early 1980s and 1990s, the development of class arbitration has been both complicated and controversial. For example, in 2003, the US Supreme Court decision in Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle, was read as providing implicit approval of class arbitration and resulted in the massive expansion of the procedure across the country.

Posted on June 24, 2014

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