Alternative Dispute Resolution


as Justice Tomas has argued, that the Constitution does not allow courts to find state law “implicitly preempted” by federal law when Congress has said not explicitly preempted state law and the requirements of state law and federal law do not conflict. Finally, in Mensing v. Wyeth, in which we are co-counsel,


the Court has asked the federal government’s views on whether federal law preempts failure to warn claims against generic drug manufacturers. We are urging the Solicitor General to agree with us that there is no preemption. And the Supreme Court’s term has not yet started.


Mandatory Arbitration Public Justice is the acknowledged national leader in the


fight against corporate attempts to force consumers, workers, and investors out of court and into arbitration. Our Access to Justice Campaign and Mandatory Arbitration Abuse Prevention Project have won more cases overturning unfair arbitration provisions than anyone in the country. Our legal treatise on the subject, Consumer Arbitration Agreements, is now in its fifth edition. But companies are still revising their agreements – and trying to impose arbitration on more and more people.


Stutman chiropractic


• Multiple office locations for increased accessibility and ease of patient referral


Dr. Mark L. StutMan, chiropractor


• Patient evaluation reports available within 48 hours • Flexible reporting capabilities to meet all of your needs • Medical/legal testimony available at no charge • Excellent medical community referral network • Bilingual in all offices (Spanish) and translation assistance available • Attorney injury education videos on our website with live human crash tests! • New patients always accepted


FIVE CONVENIENT LOCATIONS


EAST BALTIMORE: Broadway Back & Pain Clinic | 239 S. Broadway Ph: 410-522-7746 (SPINE)


MID-TOWN BALTIMORE: Charles Street Back & Pain Clinic 1120 N. Charles Street | Suite 301 | Ph: 410-522-7746 (SPINE)


LAUREL: Laurel Back & Pain Clinic | 3450 Laurel Fort Meade Road (Rt. 198), Suite 100 Ph: 240-295-7746 (SPINE)


OWINGS MILLS: Owings Mills Back & Pain Clinic | 1020 Reisterstown Rd. | Ph: 410-363-4333


TAKOMA PARK: Langley Park Back & Pain Clinic | 7505 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 300 Ph: 301-431-2225 (BACK) | Fax: 301-431-4764


Te Supreme Court has consistently issued rulings


advancing arbitration and limiting access to the courts. In 2006, in Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, the Court overturned our Florida Supreme Court victory striking down the mandatory arbitration clause in a payday lender’s contract and held that, when an entire contact is challenged as illegal, the arbitrator, and not the court, must decide that challenge. In Rent-A-Center, decided June 21, 2010, the Court just gave corporations another way to expand arbitration and contract court access. Te Court held 5-to-4 that companies can force their employees and customers into mandatory arbitration using form agreements with a “delegation clause” that delegates decisions on whether the arbitration clause is itself valid to the arbitrator. Our most successful strategy for overturning unfair


mandatory arbitration clauses and class action bans (see below) has been proving to courts that they are unconscionable, invalid, and unenforceable under state law. In Rent-A-Center, however, the Court changed the rules –allowing corporations to prevent courts from reviewing the validity of arbitration agreements. Now companies can write their arbitration agreements to assign only the arbitrator, and not the court, the power to decide whether the agreements are legally valid. Unless consumers and workers specifically argue and prove to the court that the “delegation clause” assigning that power to the arbitrator is legally invalid, the court has no role at all. We are now working daily with consumers, workers, investors, and their attorneys to challenge improper “delegation” clauses, as well as mandatory arbitration.


Class Action Bans Public Justice has also won more cases in more courts


preserving class actions than any law firm in the country. Our Class Action Preservation Project has argued and won precedent-setting decisions overturning class action bans in California, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, Washington, West Virginia, and federal courts throughout the nation. But, again, corporate wrongdoers are hoping the Court will make them immune. Tis year, our amicus brief in Shady Grove v. Allstate


1-877-895-2225 (BACK) www.stutmanchiropractic.com | Se habla español 22 Trial Reporter / Fall 2010


Insurance helped persuade the Court that Allstate Insurance can not use state law to bar a class action against it in federal court. In Stolt-Nielsen v. Animal Feeds, however, the Court held, despite our amicus urging, that class actions cannot take place when sophisticated parties arbitrate their disputes if their agreement is silent on the subject. And the Court has just agreed to hear a case that could determine whether


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