NAF National Arbitration Forum

This California case is Bailey v Processing Solutions. It's a very interesting angle regarding the so-called rules at the NAF




The arbitration agreement at issue here, like the one in Armendariz, is tainted with illegality. As we have already discussed, the class action waiver provision is unconscionable as contrary to public policy. (Discover Bank, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 162-163.) Also troubling is the provision in the arbitration agreement stating that disputes shall be governed by "the Code of Procedure of the National Arbitration Forum ("NAF") in effect at the time the claim is filed." However, the arbitration agreement did not include the NAF rules, it merely listed a web address (but did not provide a link to that address) and a physical address where plaintiff could obtain a copy of the NAF rules. However, even if plaintiff obtained a copy of the NAF rules in that way, the rules could have changed by the time any dispute arose. Thus, this provision, as drafted, provided plaintiff with no real notice at the time it was executed of what rules were actually being incorporated into the agreement. Rather, the provision merely specified that whatever NAF rules were current when the dispute arose would be enforced. The court in in Harper v. Ultimo, supra, found a similar provision oppressive because it "pegs both the scope and procedure of the arbitration to rules which might change". (Harper v. Ultimo, supra, 113 Cal.App.4th at p. 1407.)
Read the whole slip opinion here


http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/page.htm?shortname=incaco20100527025

The other day, purely on a lark, the Wall Street Journal landed in my lap. Lo and behold, the venerable business paper re-detailed the Minnesota State Attorney General Lori Swanson's allegations against the National Arbitration Forum. Her action resulted in the Forum agreeing to pull out of credit card arbitration nationwide.

Some new tidbits emerged from the Journal's writeup. Notably, the uncharged hedge fund manager "New York financier J. Michael Cline" went on safari to save tigers, and funded successful dotcoms.

The final paragraphs in the Journal's page 1 story quotes a Houston-area arbitrator James Carmody, who concluded the "...vast majority of cases the credit-card company wins because in the vast majority of cases, the person ran up the debt on the card."



We're sorry Mr. Carmody, but that is not the law. Arbitrators are supposed to follow the law, just like everyone else. If you don't like the law, then change it by way of legislation. And we're happy you're not stamping Arbitration Awards anymore for the National Arbitration Forum.

Governor Arnold Schwarznegger Vetoes Senator Ellen Corbett's SB 641

What does this mean? Simply, the California State Bar can't bill for dues from active attorneys. 12 years ago, (1997) then Governor Pete Wilson also vetoed the State Bar funding bill. The result of that years veto was mass layoffs by 1998, and 260 out of 450 employees cut were from the complaint/enforcement/prosecution department. There was a call for voluntary dues payments, and some biglaw players stepped up to the plate and paid. But it wasn't enough.

Both Governors, Wilson and Schwarznegger, cited the increased political plays by the bar in the veto justification. This is usually a routine annual funding bill. The State Bar Act of 2009 failed because of massive ongoing power plays, that continue unabated. The California State Bar is supposed to be a consumer protection agency, and the Bar's operation is to regulate and discipline.

Senator Corbett Expands Her California Consumer Protection, courtesy of the Arnold

There's bigger irony here as well. The sponsor of SB 641, Senator Corbett, was also the sponsor for the so-called Corbett Bill, which became a California statute 1281.96. This is the law requiring consumer arbitration providers to make quarterly public disclosures of the results of their activities. As we all know now, the disgraced National Arbitration Forum staffed their allegedly-impartial arbitrators from the ranks of the California State Bar. Yet, our initial investigations yield no state bar actions against these arbitrators. The California Bar sat on their hands as the National Arbitration Forum arbitrators rubber-stamped away.

California Bar Members. Are They Above the Law?

You have to wonder just how stacked the deck was in the NAF arbitrations. The big-time NAF arbitrators claim lengthy careers, spanning decades. Yet they continued their rubber-stamp of 'Arbitration Award' on tens of thousands in claims from the likes of FIA/Bank of America, Chase, and others. This resulted in the banks receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in Arbitration Awards.

Just how ethical is an NAF arbitrator? Try Lawyer for Sale. Hello State Bar.
How can the arbitrators NOT HAVE KNOWN the extent of the wrongful arbitration cancer? Basic tenets of law were ignored by these long-time officers of the court. There is no credible argument that can explain how an arbitrator can rubber stamp 50 Arbitration Awards in a day, and have actually reviewed evidence, let alone have read the claims presented to them. The arbitrators, unfettered by the State Bar of California, took the law into their own hands. It was a classic pay for play.

If you have an Arbitration Award, how impartial was your arbitrator? Was he or she a member of the California State Bar? Put a complaint in! and cc it to us as well.

The San Francisco City Attorney's Office, led by Dennis Herrera, filed suit against the National Arbitration Forum March 24, 2008. According to http://thehill.com/homenews/house/60793-rep-kucinich-flap-reveals-sensitivity-of-contacts-with-courts-prosecutors, all the filings and discovery are under a 'protective order' issued by an Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer.

This is the standard behavior pattern of billionaires and movie stars, and those that don't want any raking through the muck. See Case Number: CGC-08-473569.

Read the protective order here.

Since 2003, California law requires providers of consumer-related arbitration to disclose activities. The section of the California Code of Civil Procedure is 1281.96.

This list ranks the TOP 50 so-called 'neutral' arbitrators employed by the National Arbitration Forum. They are listed in order of their 'Hearing Volume'. The historical record dates from January 1, 2003.

Victor Waid continues to lead the pack in rubber-stamping alleged 'Arbitration Awards" on California consumers. Without any more fanfare- here is the WRONGFUL ARBITRATION TOP 50 list FOR ALL TIME! Source: The National Arbitration Forum 1281.96 filings.

King of the (S)Hill Arbitrator Award for all-time (to-date) goes to Victor Waid! Rounding out the Top 50:

Victor Waid
Joseph Nardulli
Steven Schneider
James Knotter
Sally Williams
Ronald Kahn
Urs Martin Lauchli
Coralie Kupfer
Anita Shapiro
Venetta Tassopulos
Joe Henderson
Kendall Reed
Adrienne Jennings
Robert McMillan
David Makous
Sheldon Michaels
Jeffery Carlson
Stephen Blumberg
Stephen Biersmith
Jonathan Krotinger
Bradley Webb
Robert Briggs
Patrick Huang
Steven Bromberg
Jeff Ferentz
Carol Medof
Arnold Wuhrman
Richard Wharton
Yolanda Jackson
Daniel Yamshon
Jerome Posell
Lawrence Crispo
Paul DeCicco
C. Ferguson
Michael Timpane
Robert Niemann
Douglas Noll
Arthur Berggren
L. Boden
Guenter Cohn
Alan Halkett
Samuel Jackson
John Carson
Mark Topper
Eve Wagner
Morton Orenstein
W. Wailes
Robert Bosso
Richard Reinjohn
Herbert Katz