Mastering Arbitration Agreements: Creation, claims, class and collective waivers, and ethical hearings

James W. Sandy | McGlinchey Stafford PLLC.

James “Jim” W. Sandy is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who represents individuals, small businesses, and Fortune 500 companies in all aspects of civil and commercial litigation. Financial services companies of varying sizes have engaged Jim based on his significant experience handling complex single-party and class action disputes in state and federal courts, in matters with financial exposure reaching seven figures. He also advises clients outside the financial industry in data privacy and cybersecurity matters, as well as clients involved the cannabis space.

Jim’s primary focus is on assisting and advising national mortgage servicing companies, auto finance companies, banks, and small businesses in cases involving federal and state regulatory matters, arbitrations, consumer complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and state and federal lawsuits. Jim regularly defends lawsuits brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act and other state UDAAP (Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices) laws, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and Truth in Lending Act (TILA) in both state and federal courts. He also assists mortgage and auto finance clients with compliance matters, including protecting consumer data and privacy, as well as navigating the various complicated state regulatory regimes at play in the financial services context.

In the privacy arena, Jim acts as in-house counsel for small business clients, advising on data security and privacy policies and analyzing the applicability and requirements of state, federal, and global privacy regimes, such as Europe’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). On the litigation side, Jim has defended clients in privacy class actions involving claims related to data breaches.

Michael (Mike) S. Kun | Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Attorney Mike Kun defends employers in high-stakes wage and hour, breach of contract, discrimination, and harassment cases. He has litigated more than 160 wage and hour class and collective actions in California, New York, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. He develops creative strategies to dispose of claims and drastically reduce their litigation exposure—and he does it efficiently to help them save money.

Mike’s creative approach is highly effective when defending employers in class and collective actions, as well as in single-plaintiff cases. He’s taken more than a dozen single- or multi-plaintiff cases to trial, defending claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, breach of contract, and defamation. He draws on his litigation experience to help his clients avoid costly mistakes in their pay practices, employment agreements, arbitration agreements, and restrictive covenants. Mike is co-chair of Epstein Becker Green’s Wage and Hour practice group, co-creator of the firm’s Wage & Hour Guide for Employers app, and co-editor of, and a contributing writer to, the firm’s Wage and Hour Defense Blog.

Diana C. Manning | Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C.

Diana C. Manning is a Principal of the law firm Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. For over 30 years, she has represented clients in complex commercial litigation matters and leads the firm’s Appellate, Business and Commercial Litigation, and Legal Ethics and Compliance practice groups. Diana is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney and is an accomplished litigator who handles a broad range of matters. Diana is also a skilled appellate practitioner, with experience arguing before the New Jersey Supreme Court. Diana provides attorneys and law firms of all sizes with ethics and compliance advice. She is Treasurer of the New Jersey State Bar Association and a Trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. She is a member of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct and a Past Chair of the NJSBA Judicial & Prosecutorial Appointments Committee and the District XA Ethics Committee. Diana is also a Past President of Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, and the Morris County Bar Association. She is the recipient of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey Trial Bar Award and the Civil Practice Award from both the Essex County and the Morris County Bar Associations and is a three-time recipient of the “Professional Lawyer of the Year Award” conferred by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law.

Session I – The ABC’s of Arbitration: From contract creation to arbitrating your claim | 11:00am – 12:00pm

• Your First Arbitration: A step-by-step guide
• Guidelines for Creating a Strong Arbitration Clause
• Common Pitfalls That Might Make Arbitration Agreements Invalid

Break | 12:00pm – 12:10pm

Session II – Should Employers Implement Arbitration Agreements with Class and Collective Action Waivers? The pros and the cons | 12:10pm – 1:10pm

• The financial benefits of arbitration agreements and the potential risks
• The strategic benefits of arbitration agreements and the potential risks
• The legal benefits of arbitration agreements and the potential risks
• The impact of arbitration agreements on moral and union organizing
• Enforcing arbitration agreements with electronic signatures
• Arbitration agreements with employees involved in transportation

Break | 1:10pm – 1:20pm

Session III – Ethics and the Conduct of the Arbitration Hearing | 1:20pm – 2:20pm

• The code of ethics for arbitrators in commercial disputes
• Ethics and the conduct of the arbitration hearing
• Issues related to the impartiality of the arbitrator
• Conflicts of interest and the duty to disclose