SanFran
Bylines

Posts By: Stephen Fahlsing

California’s SB 940 and the Evolving Strategic Landscape of Mass Arbitration

Ken Hagen
It’s been nearly a year since SB 940 took effect in California, fundamentally altering consumer arbitration by (1) allowing consumers to resolve disputes in small claims court (if the dispute qualifies), even if the contract mandates arbitration; and (2) allowing traditional discovery, subject to the approval of the arbitrator, even if the arbitration agreement prohibits... Read more »

Arbitrating securities fraud cases: Balancing efficiency with investor rights

Ken Hagen

This article originally published in the Daily Journal. Click here for the PDF. The SEC now allows mandatory arbitration in IPOs, reshaping litigation risk for public issuers, raising governance and insurance questions, and making expert, well-structured arbitration crucial for fair, efficient resolution of securities disputes. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s September 2025 policy shift… Read more »

MassArb 2.0: From Batches and Bellwethers to MDL-Style Fairness

Ken Hagen
Recent public commentary has raised alarm bells about mass arbitration protocols being misused by defendants to “delay justice” or “tilt the playing field.” That concern is valid—but it doesn’t apply universally. It would be a mistake to treat all structured arbitration models as procedurally unfair or inherently suspect. In fact, done right, mass arbitration can... Read more »

Designing Business Disputes: How Shall We Fight?

Reprinted with permission from the October 28, 2025 issue of the New York Law Journal. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. Download a PDF of this article. Experienced lawyers are creatures of habit. They sometimes overlook that clients have the freedom at any time to design dispute resolution procedures that work best… Read more »

Anchoring Mediation in the Merits: A Practical Approach for Neutrals

Reprinted with permission from the September 30, 2025 issue of Law.com. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. Download a PDF of this article. In complex disputes, mediators sometimes fall into the trap of rushing too quickly toward numbers—talking demands, offers, and bottom lines before the mediation has even had a chance to… Read more »

Participatory Democracy in Action

This article originally published in NYU Law’s Democracy Project. Click here for the PDF. In this essay for the Democracy Project, FedArb panelist David F. Levi looks back on his time mediating a dispute for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant permit in New Mexico. He shares how citizen groups, government officials and contractors worked together… Read more »

Mediating the Billion-Dollar Case

This article originally published in the New York Law Journal. Click here for the PDF. Mediating every case requires digging into the case, active listening to the parties, good communication and sensitivity on the part of the mediator. But the billion-dollar case or even those involving multiple hundreds of millions of dollars are often company-threatening… Read more »

Four Decades in Securities Litigation: What’s Changed and Why It Matters

This article originally published in the New York Law Journal. Click here for the PDF. When I began practicing securities litigation nearly 40 years ago, the landscape was vastly different. Accounting fraud dominated the headlines, plaintiffs’ firms were relatively few and far between, repeat plaintiffs were common, class actions were quickly filed with little pre-suit… Read more »

Former RTX Corporation Chief Litigation Counsel Steven M. Greenspan Joins FedArb

August 27, 2025 – FedArb is pleased to announce that Steven M. Greenspan, Esq. has joined its panel. Based in Connecticut, Mr. Greenspan specializes in Complex Litigation, Class Actions, Corporate Governance, Employment and Labor Law, Environmental and Regulatory, Product Liability and Toxic Tort Litigation and Securities disputes. Mr. Greenspan’s extensive experience in both the private… Read more »

Ethical Constraints When Using Artificial Intelligence in Arbitration

This article originally published in the Legal Intelligencer. Click here for the PDF. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming de rigueur in the legal community, with law firms and lawyers independently utilizing a variety of AI resources to streamline research, formulate documents and digest discovery, exhibits, depositions and fee details. In arbitration, AI may expedite proceedings… Read more »

FedArb Announces Strategic Board Reorganization

Ken Hagen

July 23, 2025 – FedArb, a leading provider of ADR services and known for its elite panel of experts and former federal judges, is pleased to announce a significant ownership transition. Kennen D. Hagen, the company’s current CEO, will assume full ownership and control, as the company undergoes a strategic recapitalization. This move enables Mr…. Read more »

Avoiding Pitfalls in Preparing a Mediation Term Sheet

By John M. Delehanty Reaching a settlement in mediation is a big accomplishment—but it’s not the finish line. Ideally, once there’s a meeting of the minds, the parties should draft and sign a formal settlement agreement right away. But in reality, especially after long hours of negotiation, most parties and their counsel opt to draft... Read more »

Securities Litigation Leader Tracy Nichols Joins FedArb

June 24, 2025 – FedArb is pleased to announce that Tracy Nichols has joined its panel. Based in Florida, Ms. Nichols specializes in Securities, Accounting & Finance, Commercial Disputes, Complex Litigation, Corporate Governance, Directors & Officers Liability, Fiduciary Duty Litigation, Insurance & Reinsurance, Mergers & Acquisitions and Representation & Warranties disputes. She is available to... Read more »

Former EDTX Chief Judge Leonard Davis Joins FedArb

June 12, 2025 – FedArb is pleased to announce that the Hon. Leonard Davis, the former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, has joined its panel. Based out of Texas and Colorado, Judge Davis specializes in Complex Litigation and Intellectual Property, including resolving patent, copyright, trademark, oil... Read more »

David Sorkin Joins FedArb

June 2, 2025 – FedArb is pleased to announce David J. Sorkin has joined its panel. Based in New York, Mr. Sorkin is available to serve as a mediator and to provide guidance on mock arguments and litigation strategy. His expertise includes Mergers and Acquisitions, Business/Commercial, Private Equity, Securities and Financial Services, Accounting and Finance,... Read more »

Rethinking Mass Arbitration: Building on MDL’s Proven Blueprint

Ken Hagen

Mass arbitrations are an important new way for customers to protect their legal rights.  Unfortunately, arbitration was designed for individualized disputes—not mass actions involving thousands of nearly identical claims. Yet legacy ADR providers keep trying to force mass arbitrations into an individualized approach that it was never built to support. The result? Massive filing fees,… Read more »

Alabama Federal Judge L. Scott Coogler (Ret.) Joins FedArb

April 29, 2025 – FedArb is pleased to announce that Hon. L. Scott Coogler (Ret.) has joined its panel. Based in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Judge Coogler has a national practice and is available to serve as a mediator, arbitrator, special master, and as a mock panelist. He specializes in Complex Litigation and has expertise in a... Read more »

What the latest ruling tells us about the future of Mass Arbitrations

Ken Hagen
The Ninth Circuit ruled that Starz Entertainment LLC can’t be forced to individually arbitrate 7,300 video-privacy claims. The consumers had alleged the company unlawfully shared their personal information with Meta Platforms Inc. and Google LLC. The court wrote that the ADR provider, not Starz, made the decision to consolidate the arbitrations. In this video FedArb... Read more »

Mediating Executive or Other Key Employee Disputes

A successful mediation requires sensitivity and attention to the needs of each side, but mediating executive or key employee disputes requires some specific considerations and alertness to sensitivities that merit discussion. It’s a Person’s Career After All! First, and foremost, we are dealing with a person’s career –the place where the person has spent a… Read more »

Arbitration Umpire Selection: What Makes Sense

Arbitration is intended to be an expeditious, cost-effective, and streamlined way of resolving disputes. Parties can avoid the delays and expenses that come with resolving a dispute in a courtroom. Court dockets contain hundreds of cases with a single trial judge, who is contending on a daily basis with multiple motions, hearings, orders to show… Read more »

FedArb Updates Its Mass Arbitration Rules for 2025

January 22, 2025 – FedArb announced it updated its consumer and employment MDL-styled Mass Arbitration rules. The latest changes are designed to follow the best practices of the federal rules and eliminate procedural or substantive unconscionability issues. FedArb’s updated rules add a robust affirmation requirement that tracks FRCP Rule 11 “reasonable inquiry” standard and makes... Read more »