How Mass Arbitration Defense Strategies Have Fared In Court
May 21, 2025
Law360
Types : Bylined Articles
On Feb. 24, clothing retailer Janie & Jack LLC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to enjoin 2,408 individual consumers from engaging in arbitration.
Although Janie & Jack has an arbitration clause in its terms of use with customers, it argues in its lawsuit, Janie & Jack LLC v. Abbasi, that the claimants never assented to the contract. The company seeks a declaratory judgment that it had not formed an agreement to arbitrate with the claimants, and an injunction restraining claimants and their counsel from seeking to compel Janie & Jack to arbitration.
The facts alleged in Janie & Jack’s complaint tell a familiar tale from mass arbitration targets: Thousands of individuals, all represented by the same counsel, simultaneously file — or threaten to file — arbitration demands with nearly identical claims.