Are Arbitration Agreements With Attorneys Unenforceable? Maine Says Yes (Mostly).
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While I was busy writing deep thoughts about arbitration at the end of 2017 (see hereand here), courts around the country rudely kept churning out new arbitration opinions. Hmph. So, I have some catching up to do. I start with one that has most captured my attention, Snow v. Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, ___ A.3d ___, 2017 WL 6520900 (Me. Dec. 21, 2017). It finds an arbitration agreement between a law firm and its client unenforceable, because the law firm did not specifically explain to the client that arbitration entails a loss of a jury trial, narrower appeal rights, and different evaluation of evidence.
Susan Snow hired the Bernstein firm to handle a civil action. The opinion does not tell us anything about Snow or her level of sophistication. But, it does tell us that she signed Bernstein’s standard terms of engagement, which included an arbitration clause. The arbitration clause dealt specifically with arbitrability of “fee disputes,” and then said “any other dispute that arises out of or relates to this agreement or the services provided by the law firm shall also, at the election of either party, be subject to binding arbitration.”
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