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arbitrators in contracts. The
National Arbitration Forum countered that its arbitrators were independent practitioners, which ensured that its arbitration was impartial. However, citing legal costs, the National Arbitration Forum agreed the week after the filing to stop accepting consumer debt collection cases for arbitration. According to the Minnesota Attorney General, the National Arbitration Forum's settlement with the State of Minnesota required the company to stop handling current consumer arbitrations and to not process or administer new consumer arbitrations after July 24, 2009.
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filed a lawsuit against the
National Arbitration Forum on behalf of its citizens, accusing the arbitrator of unfairly favoring credit card companies in disputes with their customers. The city alleged that the NAF was practicing unethically and wrongly with such specific concerns as ignoring evidence,
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brought a lawsuit against the
National Arbitration Forum for consumer fraud, deceptive trade and false statements in advertising. Key to their complaint was allegations that the NAF had deliberately hidden its ties to the businesses it represented and actively encouraged their naming as mandatory
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For years, National
Arbitration Forum ("NAF") falsely held itself out as an independent provider of neutral arbitration services in consumer debt matters, unaffiliated with any person or entities within or outside the collection industry. However, NAF has been investigated by Minnesota local and
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In March 2010, a study of the
National Arbitration Forum's record of panelist appointments for domain name disputes was published. It raised concern that a small handful of the NAF's roster panelists were appointed to hear disproportionately many cases. In one instance, a single panelist was
372:). According to the analysis, of these 26,665 arbitrations, consumer parties were reported to have prevailed outright or had the case against them dismissed in 8,558 cases (32.1%). In an additional 4,376 cases (16.4%), the arbitrator did not award the full amount demanded by the business.
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state prosecutors for working alongside Mann
Bracken authorizing illegitimate arbitration awards against consumers, deceiving the courts and the public. Both NAF and Mann Bracken concealed their relationship and the financial relationship with their common group owner known as Accretive.
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appointed to hear 949 cases, or about 10% of all NAF domain name dispute cases ever heard. In August 2012, the study was updated and it showed a continued concentration of panellists appointments wherein seven NAF-selected panelists were appointed to hear nearly half of all cases.
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disputes since 1999. The number of domain name disputes administered is on the rise, up 143 cases from 2006 to 2007. The NAF deals predominantly with registered domain names that are abused by parties who have no legitimate rights to them. Some of the famous
228:. The organization was founded in 1986. As of 2008, the National Arbitration Forum administered over 200,000 cases a year, most of which were consumer debt collection cases. In 2009, the National Arbitration Forum ceased administration of new
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inflating awards and declining hearing requests by consumers. The lawsuit said that between
January 2003 and March 2007, consumers won 0.2% of the 18,075 arbitration cases in California that were not dropped, settled or otherwise dismissed.
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published an in-depth look at credit collection arbitrations at NAF. The story describes how NAF markets itself to collection lawyers and then works with them in ways that raise questions about its impartiality.
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The NAF was founded in 1986 as a subsidiary of another company, Equilaw, which subsequently went bankrupt in 1994. NAF survived the bankruptcy and appears to have grown rapidly in recent years. The NAF and
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made broad claims of NAF's bias in favor of consumer creditors and hidden conflict of interest. According to the article, NAF markets itself to consumer credit providers, collection agencies and law firms.
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According to a July 2008 Navigant analysis of the Public
Citizen data, 26,665 arbitrations out of a total of 33,948 arbitrations were either heard or dismissed (i.e. excluding
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Consumer advocacy groups and attorneys frequently claim that the
National Arbitration Forum is the most biased against consumers of the major arbitration organizations.
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National
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work together on an international level. The National Arbitration Forum is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Suit accuses credit card service firm; S.F. city attorney alleges bias for debt collectors in arbitration
651:"New Public Citizen Report Shows that Credit Card Companies Set an Arbitration Trap to Ensnare Consumers"
845:"Two Recent Cases Address What Happens When the Arbitral Forum Selected by the Parties is Not Available"
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Public Citizen Report, The Arbitration Trap: How Credit Card Companies Ensnare Consumers
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criticized the National Arbitration Forum, including its fee schedule and alleged bias.
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and in 35 countries around the world. Panelists arbitrate and mediate the disputes.
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819:"Minnesota lawsuit claims credit card arbitration firm has ties to industry"
793:"Minn. AG Sues Credit Card Arbitration Company, Claims Hidden Industry Ties"
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870:"State of Minnesota v. National Arbitration Forum et al., Consent Judgment"
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TLPJ Charges National Arbitration Forum with Violating CA Disclosure Law
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895:"National Arbitration Forum Settlement with Minnesota Attorney General"
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PPT National Arbitration Forum: California Consumer Arbitration Data
909:"Goodbye Mann Bracken. A Debt Collection Company Worth Going Bankrupt"
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760:"State of Minnesota v. National Arbitration Forum, et al. Complaint"
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Domain Name Dispute Stats Reveal Concern Over Panelist Appointment
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556:"List of Approved Dispute Resolution Service Providers - ICANN"
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523:"Big Arbitration Firm Pulls Out of Credit Card Business"
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involved in NAF domain name dispute resolutions include
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National Arbitration Forum's Wall of Secrecy Crumbling
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DNattorney.com Domain Name Dispute Study, August, 2012
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Neutrality Questions Continue to Dog Arbitration Firm
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An approved domain name dispute program provider for
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firms. The company maintains a panel of over 1,600
277:disputes and has handled more than 7,600 cases.
212:(NAF) is an American organization that provides
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719:. San Francisco City Attorney. Archived from
142:The examples and perspective in this article
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817:Chu, Kathy; McGraw, Taylor (July 15, 2009).
490:Berner, Robert; Grow, Brian (June 4, 2008).
361:In 2007, non-profit consumer advocacy group
544:National Arbitration Forum : Locations
61:Learn how and when to remove these messages
97:. Please do not remove this message until
897:. The Federalist Society. 11 August 2009.
193:Learn how and when to remove this message
175:Learn how and when to remove this message
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
995:1986 establishments in the United States
93:Relevant discussion may be found on the
911:. Get Out of Debt Guy. 14 January 2010.
843:Abeska, Timothy J. (December 2, 2013).
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302:, the NAF has administered over 10,000
791:Weiss, Debra Cassens (July 15, 2009).
492:"Banks vs. Consumers (Guess Who Wins)"
232:as part of a consent decree with the
220:services to businesses, based at its
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955:California Consumer Arbitration Data
765:. State of Minnesota. Archived from
649:MacLeery, Laura (October 11, 2007).
380:Legislation and lawsuits against NAF
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950:National Arbitration Forum Website
875:. Voice of San Diego. 17 July 2009
411:Minnesota Attorney General lawsuit
398:Businessweek's allegations of bias
346:In its June 16, 2008 cover story,
288:Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW)
146:include all significant viewpoints
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717:"National Arbitration Forum case"
42:This article has multiple issues.
447:Arbitration in the United States
442:American Arbitration Association
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758:Swanson, Lori (July 14, 2009).
467:National Academy of Arbitrators
239:concerning the NAF's ties with
50:or discuss these issues on the
452:Alternative dispute resolution
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990:Companies established in 1986
521:Berner, Robert (2009-07-19).
385:City of San Francisco lawsuit
234:Attorney General of Minnesota
266:The company is an "approved
224:headquarters and offices in
389:In March 2008, the City of
99:conditions to do so are met
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672:Institute for Legal Reform
417:Minnesota Attorney General
210:National Arbitration Forum
18:National Arbitration Forum
985:Arbitration organizations
208:, formerly known as the
970:Dnattorney.com web site
694:Dnattorney.com web site
496:Bloomberg Businessweek
415:On July 14, 2009, the
270:service provider" of
230:consumer arbitrations
357:Public Citizen study
294:Domain name disputes
849:National Law Review
259:located across the
153:improve the article
86:of this article is
723:on 1 February 2014
603:Lawyers world wide
457:Dispute resolution
313:Los Angeles Angels
268:dispute resolution
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879:18 December
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802:18 December
797:ABA Journal
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592:Citizen.org
506:18 December
437:Arbitration
370:settlements
339:Controversy
304:domain name
275:domain name
255:and former
245:arbitrators
222:Minneapolis
214:arbitration
979:Categories
565:2023-06-27
473:References
309:trademarks
226:New Jersey
84:neutrality
47:improve it
823:USA Today
462:Mediation
329:Univision
253:attorneys
249:mediators
218:mediation
95:talk page
53:talk page
625:DN Forum
431:See also
251:who are
144:may not
88:disputed
614:Domains
529:3 March
281:History
151:Please
327:, and
317:Disney
257:judges
873:(PDF)
770:(PDF)
763:(PDF)
300:ICANN
272:ICANN
206:Forum
881:2013
856:2013
830:2013
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508:2013
247:and
216:and
81:The
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