On September 30, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 802. Under this new law, which takes effect on January 1, 2015, private arbitration companies (e.g., AAA, JAMS) will be required to collect and publish certain information about private arbitrations they administer. The previously private information which must now be made publicly available includes:
1. Whether the arbitration was demanded pursuant to a pre-dispute contractual clause.
2. The name of the non-consumer party and whether that non-consumer party was the initiating party or the responding party.
3. The nature of the dispute involved, to be listed as one of the following: goods; credit; other banking or finance; insurance; health care; construction; real estate; telecommunications, including software and Internet usage; debt collection; personal injury; employment; or other.
4. Whether the consumer or non-consumer party was the prevailing party.
5. The total number of occasions, if any, the non-consumer party has previously been a party in an arbitration administered by the private arbitration company.
6. The total number of occasions, if any, the non-consumer party has previously been a party in a mediation administered by the private arbitration company.
7. Whether the consumer party was represented by an attorney and, if so, the name of the attorney and the full name of the law firm that employs the attorney, if any.
8. The date the private arbitration company received the demand for arbitration, the date the arbitrator was appointed, and the date of disposition by the arbitrator or private arbitration company.
9. The type of disposition of the dispute, if known, identified as one of the following: withdrawal, abandonment, settlement, award after hearing, award without hearing, default, or dismissal without hearing.
10. The amount of the claim, whether equitable relief was requested or awarded, the amount of any monetary award, the amount of any attorney’s fees awarded, and any other relief granted, if any.
11. The name of the arbitrator, his or her total fee for the case, the percentage of the arbitrator’s fee allocated to each party, whether a waiver of any fees was granted, and, if so, the amount of the waiver.
Under AB 802, this information must be provided in a searchable format and must be accessible from a conspicuous link on the arbitration company’s website.
You can find the full text of the new law here.
