March 18, 2020

JIOA: A Plan for a National Ombuds for Consumer Dispute Resolution

The latest article in the peer-reviewed Journal of the International Ombudsman Association promotes the use of Ombuds as an alternative to the widespread mandatory arbitration in consumer dispute. The author, Mala Sharma, is a consultant and attorney and PhD candidate at the School of Law, University of Surrey. The full article, "A Fair Alternative to Unfair Arbitration: Proposing an Ombudsman Scheme for Consumer Dispute Resolution in the USA," is now available online.

Here's the abstract:

Mandatory arbitration is facing a backlash in the United States of America. Recently proposed legislations are geared to severely restrict the scope of mandatory arbitration in consumer disputes. This Article proposes the creation of a new hybrid ombudsman scheme on the lines of the Financial Ombudsman Service found in the UK for resolving consumer disputes in the US. The multi-tier alternative dispute resolution system integrating mediation, recommended settlements and adjudications adopted by the FOS internally and the unique position it enjoys in relation to various actors such as the regulators, courts, industry and consumers within the dispute resolution framework enables it to not only act as a grievance addressal point but also as an agent of change. It is about time unfair mandatory arbitration is replaced with fair alternatives such as a hybrid ombudsman scheme.
(JIOA.)

Related posts: Journal of IOA Now Available Through EBSCO; Journal of IOA Moves to Piecemeal Publication Schedule; Journal of IOA Opens Access for 2019; Journal of IOA Seeks Book Reviewers; Journal of IOA Call for Papers: Special Issue on Sexual Harassment; IOA Announces Agenda for 2020 Conference in Portland.

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