For more than 35 years, Corporate America has been trying to take power and authority away from civil juries. A survey of arbitration decisions involving credit card customers and First USA Bank, then the nation’s second-largest credit card company, found that the company had prevailed in 99.6 percent of cases that went all the way to an arbitrator.
Mandatory binding arbitration clauses are standard business practice in credit card and real estate contracts, applications for bank loans and leasing cars, employment contracts and even HMO policies. In some states, they may apply broadly to insurance contracts. Consumers or small businesses who refuse to submit to mandatory binding arbitration will be unable to get credit cards, insurance, health care or jobs.



