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FedArb Continues Leadership in Mass Arbitration with Updated ADR-MDL™ Rules.
Effective December 31, 2024, FedArb’s updated 2025 rules make several changes, including (a) adding a robust affirmation requirement that tracks FRCP Rule 11 “reasonable inquiry” standard and (b) making clear that the standard for a Pre-Filing Fee motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is the same standard employed to grant a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.
FedArb’s Mass Arbitration Rules combined with its integrated case management software and national panel of 120 arbitrators provide litigants with efficient, quick and uniform resolution of mass arbitrations. In cases involving statutory damages, the mass arbitration process can be completed in less than a year.
FedArb seeks to eliminate issues of procedural or substantive unconscionability by referencing well-established MDL procedures under the Federal Rules. These procedures allow both parties to assess the scope of potential claims and thereby better enable litigants to engage in more meaningful settlement discussions. FedArb’s ADR-MDL™ procedures provide for an optional FRCP Rule 11 and Rule 12(b) motion decided by former Article III judges before the parties are required to pay arbitration filing fees. Subsequently an MDL type tribunal will adjudicate all common issues, thus treating all claimants exactly the same (as opposed to the variability inherent in batch or bellwether arbitrations). Any remaining issues are then determined either by an individual arbitration or by the submission of a claims form setting forth individual facts that will enable damages to be calculated in accordance with the findings of the MDL tribunal.
With respect to valid claims and claimants, FedArb promotes efficiency, uniformity and quick resolution by staying all arbitrations until an MDL type panel (“ADR- MDL™”) rules on all legal, discovery and damages issues common to all claimants. After the MDL Panel’s decision, any individual issues are decided by claimants submitting a claims form or (where necessary) by individual arbitrations using FedArb’s panelists and FedArb’s expedited arbitration procedures.
FedArb’s updated 2025 rules (a) add a robust affirmation requirement that tracks FRCP Rule 11 “reasonable inquiry” standard and (b) make clear that the standard for a Pre-Filing Fee motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is the same standard employed to grant a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.
Ad Hoc. The parties can also agree to use FedArb to administer a mass arbitration using AAA, JAMS, CPR, ADR Services or any other rules specified in the governing arbitration agreement. FedArb’s renowned panel of leading arbitrators and its 24×7 administrative team ensures your case moves quickly and without the delay inherent in many arbitral institutions.