TERMS & CONDITIONS
Last Updated on January 1st, 2020
Thank you for using Arbitration 101. We are looking forward to helping you enforce your rights against companies. It is important that you read and understand these terms, which govern your use of Arbitration 101 Inc.’s, and any of its affiliates’ (collectively “Arbitration 101”), services, software and website (“Services”).
You must be the legal age of majority in your state of residence and otherwise able to form a binding contract with Arbitration 101 in order to use the Services. You cannot use the Services if you are under 13 years old or a citizen or resident of the European Union.
PLEASE CAREFULLY READ ABOUT THE ARBITRATION 101 PROCESS PRIOR TO FILING A CLAIM. BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS (ALSO CALLED THIS “AGREEMENT”), YOU ACKNOWLEDGE, AGREE TO AND INSTRUCT ARBITRATION 101 TO FOLLOW THE PROCESS DESCRIBED HERE. BY FILING A CLAIM THROUGH ARBITRATION 101 YOU WILL INITIATE THIS PROCESS. YOU REPRESENT THAT IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR ISSUE BASED ON YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND DELIBERATIONS. WHILE ARBITRATION 101 MAY CONNECT YOU WITH ATTORNEYS AND PAY FOR THEIR SERVICES IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF ARBITRATION 101’S STAKE IN YOUR CLAIM, ARBITRATION 101 IS NOT AN ATTORNEY OR LAW FIRM AND DOES NOT EVALUATE WHETHER THIS PROCESS IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR ISSUE.
A. Who is who?
1. These terms and conditions are between you, the user of the Services and Arbitration 101 and we each understand and agree to these terms and conditions. You understand that Arbitration 101 is a platform that helps you enforce your legal rights against a company (a “Counterparty”) by submitting a written dispute against that Counterparty (a “Claim”). You understand that by using the Services you may be waiving or forfeiting other options available to you related to the Claim.
2. To increase the value of your Claim, in which Arbitration 101 has a stake, Arbitration 101 may connect you with attorneys and pay them to provide you with certain limited-scope services (see “Attorney Services” below). Some parts of these terms and conditions may benefit the attorneys who participate in the Attorney Services. You agree that your Attorney can enforce the portions of these terms and conditions that are designed to benefit him or her.
B. What will ARBITRATION 101 do?
1. You understand that when you submit a Claim through Arbitration 101 you are starting a legal process against the Counterparty.
2. When you submit a Claim, Arbitration 101 will send that Claim to the Counterparty on your behalf and provide a platform that facilitates communication between you and the Counterparty to try to resolve the Claim. More specifically, Arbitration 101 will take the steps listed below when it receives your Claim, unless it has been flagged as suspicious by either Arbitration 101 or the counterparty, the Claim has been resolved, or you become unresponsive. By submitting your Claim, you are instructing Arbitration 101 to take the steps below as well as any additional steps described here or on the page. You understand that Arbitration 101 will not exercise any discretion or make any changes to this process based on the details of your Claim, and that Arbitration 101 will continue following these steps until you tell it to stop.
3. Arbitration 101 will send a letter for you to the Counterparty following the process for dispute resolution set out in the contract between you and the Counterparty, and will assist communicating with your Counterparty.
4. If your contract with your Counterparty specifies that a certain number of days must elapse between the sending of the letter and the filing of an arbitration (a “Notice Period”), Arbitration 101 will wait the specified number of days before taking further action. If your contract with your Counterparty does not specify a Notice Period, Arbitration 101 will apply a 30 day Notice Period to give you time to resolve your dispute with the Counterparty prior to escalating your Claim to arbitration.
5. Unless your Counterparty resolves your dispute through the Arbitration 101 platform, or you or the Counterparty notify Arbitration 101 of a settlement, within the applicable waiting period, Arbitration 101 will allow you to escalate your Claim to arbitration upon the expiration of your waiting period. A consumer arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that involves an unbiased third party hearing your Claim and deciding the dispute between you and the counterparty – learn more about consumer arbitration online. Arbitration 101 may, in some circumstances, pay your filing fees on your behalf. If Arbitration 101 pays your filing fees, you agree that Arbitration 101 will be entitled to any reimbursement of those fees. By agreeing to these terms and conditions you assign any right you have to reimbursement of the filing fee under your contract with the counterparty to Arbitration 101.
6. At any time, your counter party can notify you by phone, mailing address. When that happens, you will send an email forwarding all information to you owner@arbitration101.com. If you you resolve your claim outside ARBITRATION 101 communications, you must contact us within 7 days of accepting settlement offers
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7. Once your consumer arbitration has been filed, all interactions regarding your Claim should be directed to the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). Arbitration 101 will provide you with a reference number that you can use to identify your Claim to the AAA.
8. You understand and agree that regardless of the circumstances, Arbitration 101 is not responsible for whether the Claim is successfully resolved or for how long the process takes.
C. What do I do?
1. You understand that by submitting the Claim through Arbitration 101, Arbitration 101 will do things and spend money processing your Claim, paying for Attorney Services, mailing your Claim to the counterparty and facilitating communication between you and the counterparty. you understand that, among other expenses incurred, Arbitration 101 may pay the filing fee necessary to file your arbitration. If Arbitration 101 pays your filing fee for you, you agree that Arbitration 101 is entitled to any reimbursement of that fee. you hereby assign any right you have to reimbursement of the filing fee under your contract with the counterparty to Arbitration 101. You agree that you will be responsible for the money that Arbitration 101 spends trying to solve your Claim and that Arbitration 101 may recover these costs out of any amount you receive from the counterparty to resolve your Claim (“settlement”) (see “About the Money” below for more information).
2. You promise that the information you give to Arbitration 101 and any Attorney will be accurate, true and it will not be misleading or false in any way, and that you take all responsibility for the information that you submit in your Claim and that you provide to the counterparty through Arbitration 101. You agree to promptly notify Arbitration 101 of any developments in your Claim including, among other things, (i) the content of any communication with the counterparty, (ii) the content of any settlement offer from the counterparty, (iii) the basic terms of any settlement that you agree to with the counterparty, (iv) significant changes to the facts underlying your Claim and (v) any decision to stop pursuing your Claim.
3. You understand that Arbitration 101 and the Attorney working on your Claim (if any) rely on you for quick responses to its communications with you so that it can help to resolve your Claim as fast as possible. You agree to reply to Arbitration 101 and the Attorney within a reasonable time when either of them needs more information from you or asks you to do something to progress the Claim. You understand that if Arbitration 101 or the Attorney does not hear from you for 2 weeks from when you are asked for information or to do something about the Claim, Arbitration 101 may cancel your Claim.
D. About the Money
1. In return for doing the paperwork to process your Claim and providing other services to help you through the dispute resolution process, you are assigning Arbitration 101 a 50% stake in any monetary relief resulting from your Claim against the Counterparty (the “Stake”). This includes account credits (other than account credits issued to offset an outstanding account balance, which shall be used to calculate the Debt Relief Fee defined below), cash and the fair market value of any hardware that you get from the Counterparty. If the Counterparty does not pay the Stake directly to Arbitration 101, and sends Arbitration 101’s Stake to you instead, you agree to pay Arbitration 101 the amount of its Stake.
2. If you accept a settlement offer but the Stake and the Debt Relief Fee are less than $20 when added together, then you agree to pay Arbitration 101 $20, instead of and not in addition to the Stake and the Debt Relief Fee, to partially offset the costs that Arbitration 101 incurred pursuing your Claim.
3. If you receive a settlement offer, you promise to promptly communicate that offer to Arbitration 101. Because Arbitration 101 has a stake in your Claim, you understand that you will need to get Arbitration 101’s consent before accepting any settlement offer. Arbitration 101 hereby grants its consent to any written settlement offer that you or the Counterparty submits to Arbitration 101 by email at owner@arbitration.com, effective as of the time you or the Counterparty sends the email.
4. You understand that Arbitration 101 spends significant time and money pursuing your Claim, and requires your participation to successfully process an arbitration. If you fail to respond to multiple requests for information about the status or outcome of your Claim from Arbitration 101 (“Ghosting”), you authorize Arbitration 101to charge any payment card connected to your account for $40 – the approximate cost of preparing, delivering and managing your Claim. Arbitration 101 agrees to warn you twice by email prior to charging any payment card on file.
5. If Arbitration 101 chooses to provide you with Attorney Services to increase the value of the Stake, Arbitration 101 will pay for those Attorney Services under a traditional tripartite relationship with the attorney providing the services. You will have no payment obligation to the attorney.
E. Attorney Services
1. Arbitration 101 may, at its option, choose to hire an attorney to provide certain limited-scope legal services designed to increase the value of the Claim and the Stake (the “Attorney Services”). The most common Attorney Services that Arbitration 101 chooses to pay for you are:
2. A lawyer may be hired to review your claim, identify potential legal issues in your claim and provide you with a summary report stating the likely legal basis for your Claim and a possible range of fair settlement values for your Claim (the “Legal Basis Report”). The Legal Basis Report is meant to help you understand what the law says about how your Claim should be resolved in order to help you negotiate with the Counterparty.
3. A lawyer may be hired to review any written settlement offer, identify potential legal issues affecting the enforceability or scope of the settlement, and provide you with a report covering any legal concerns and a recommendation regarding whether to accept the offer.
4. Arbitration 101 is under no obligation to provide you with any Attorney Services, and may or may not do so in its sole discretion.
5. Arbitration 101 may choose the attorney to provide the Attorney Services, provided that the attorney is licensed to practice law in any state or territory of the United States. If the cost of the Attorney Services provided to you are under $1000, the attorney may, in the attorney’s discretion, provide the service without first negotiating an engagement agreement with you.
6. You agree that the attorney providing the Attorney Services may, at the attorneys discretion, use software and services created or provided by Arbitration 101 to provide the Attorney Services at a lower cost, including but not limited to database and document storage solutions, document preparation software, legal research libraries, communications and document distributions services and general administrative services.
F. BINDING ARBITRATION, plus your liabilities, indemnities and other important stuff
1. BINDING ARBITRATION
Arbitration 101 is an arbitration-focused company, and we believe that arbitration can provide consumers with an efficient and cost-effective way of resolving disputes when responsibly used. Any Dispute (as defined below) involving you and us shall be resolved through individual arbitration. In arbitration, there is no judge or jury and there is less discovery and appellate review than in court.
Definitions:
This Arbitration Provision shall be broadly interpreted. “Dispute” means any claim or controversy related to us or our relationship, including but not limited to any and all: (1) claims for relief and theories of liability, whether based in contract, tort, fraud, negligence, statute, regulation, ordinance, or otherwise; (2) claims that arose before this or any prior Agreement; (3) claims that arise after the expiration or termination of this Agreement, and (4) claims that are the subject of purported class action litigation.
Opt Out:
You can opt out of this Arbitration Provision at any time within 30 days of your first use of any Arbitration101 product or service by sending an email containing your name, email address and phone number (which must match the information on your Arbitration101 account, if any) to owner@arbitration101.com. The email should clearly state that you wish to opt out of the Arbitration Provision in our Terms and Conditions.
Right to Sue in Small Claims Court:
Notwithstanding anything in this Arbitration Provision to the contrary, either you or we may elect to have an action heard in a small claims court that has appropriate jurisdiction over the matter and parties. This clause is not intended to constitute an acceptance of any particular venue, or to subject Arbitration 101 to personal jurisdiction in any court.
Arbitration Procedures.
This Arbitration Provision shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Arbitrations shall be administered by the AAA pursuant to its Consumer Arbitration Rules (the “AAA Rules”) as modified by the version of this Arbitration Provision that is in effect when you notify us about your Dispute. If there is a conflict between this Arbitration Provision and the AAA rules, this Arbitration Provision shall govern. If the AAA will not administer a proceeding under this Arbitration Provision as written, the parties shall agree on a substitute arbitration organization. If the parties cannot agree, the parties shall mutually petition a court of appropriate jurisdiction to appoint an arbitration organization that will administer a proceeding under this Arbitration Provision as written applying the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. A single arbitrator will resolve the Dispute. Unless you and we agree otherwise, any arbitration hearing will take place at a location convenient to both of us. The arbitrator will honor claims of privilege recognized by law and will take reasonable steps to protect customer account information and other confidential or proprietary information. The arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision that explains the arbitrator’s essential findings and conclusions. The arbitrator’s award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction over the parties only if necessary, for purposes of enforcing the arbitrator’s award. An arbitrator’s award that has been fully satisfied shall not be entered in any court.
Waiver of Class Actions and Collective Relief.
THERE SHALL BE NO RIGHT OR AUTHORITY FOR ANY CLAIMS TO BE ARBITRATED OR LITIGATED ON A CLASS ACTION, JOINT OR CONSOLIDATED BASIS OR ON BASES INVOLVING CLAIMS BROUGHT IN A PURPORTED REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY ON BEHALF OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC (SUCH AS A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL) OR OTHER PERSONS. THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF WARRANTED BY THAT INDIVIDUAL PARTY’S CLAIM. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT AWARD RELIEF FOR OR AGAINST ANYONE WHO IS NOT A PARTY. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING. THIS WAIVER OF CLASS ACTIONS AND COLLECTIVE RELIEF IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION AND CANNOT BE SEVERED FROM IT. THE REMAINING PORTIONS OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION ARE NOT ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION AND CAN BE SEVERED FROM IT BY A COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION.
Arbitral Fees and Costs.
If your claim seeks more than $75,000 in the aggregate, the payment of the AAA’s fees and costs will be governed by the AAA rules. If your claims seek less than $75,000 in the aggregate, the payment of the AAA’s fees and costs will be our responsibility. However, if the arbitrator finds that your Dispute was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), the payment of the AAA’s fees and costs shall be governed by the AAA Rules and you shall reimburse us for all fees and costs that were your obligation to pay under the AAA Rules. You may hire an attorney to represent you in arbitration. You are responsible for your attorneys’ fees and additional costs and may only recover your attorneys’ fees and costs in the arbitration to the extent that you could in court if the arbitration is decided in your favor. Notwithstanding anything in this Arbitration Provision to the contrary, we will pay all fees and costs that we are required by law to pay.
Survival.
This Arbitration Provision shall survive the termination of your Service(s) with us.
2. You agree to use the Services at your own risk. The information, software, products, and services made available through Arbitration 101 or its affiliates may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Arbitration 101 and/or its suppliers may at any time make improvements or changes to Arbitration 101’s Services. Information received via Arbitration 101 should not be relied upon for personal, legal, or financial decisions. you will consult an appropriate professional for specific advice tailored to your situation.
3. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ARBITRATION 101 AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ABOUT THE SERVICES. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.” ARBITRATION 101 ALSO DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. INFORMATION AND OPINIONS RECEIVED VIA THE WEBSITE OR ARBITRATION 101’s COMMUNICATIONS, OR ITS AGENT’S OR EMPLOYEES COMMUNICATIONS, WITH you SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON FOR PERSONAL, LEGAL OR FINANCIAL DECISIONS AND you WILL CONSULT AN APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE TAILORED TO YOUR SITUATION.
4. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL ARBITRATION 101, ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS OR DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS, OR PROFITS, REGARDLESS OF LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER OR NOT ARBITRATION 101 HAS BEEN WARNED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.
5. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ARBITRATION 101’s AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICES SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE GREATER OF $500 OR THE AMOUNT PAID BY you TO ARBITRATION 101 FOR THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE SERVICES IN QUESTION, WHICHEVER IS LOWER.
Ok that bit is over, sorry about all the words.
G. How do we terminate the Services?
1. You can terminate the Services for any reason and at any time by using the “Cancel Claim” button on your dashboard or by contacting owner@arbitration101.com.
2. Terminating the Services does not terminate this Agreement, which will govern your relationship to Arbitration 101 even after you stop using the Services.
3. Arbitration 101 can terminate the Services at any time and for any reason by notifying you at your email address or home address that the Services are terminated.
H. Extra stuff
1. You understand and agree that when you submit a claim through Arbitration 101 it will send communications that are drafted by you to the Counterparty on your behalf. You understand that Arbitration 101 does this as an intermediary and not as your agent and that Arbitration 101 takes no responsibility for the content of those communications or their accuracy.
2. You understand that you are giving Arbitration 101 your phone number when you sign up for its services and you authorize Arbitration 101 to send you text messages and web-based messenger messages, call you using any form of technology (including an auto-dialer or other computerized tool) and contact you in any other way using your phone number. You represent that the phone number that you are submitting is owned by you and you agree to indemnify Arbitration 101 for any damages that Arbitration 101 incurs as a result of your submission of a phone number that is not owned by you. In addition to contacting you with information about your Claim(s), Arbitration 101 may contact you with offers for services or other solicitations at the number you provide and using any of the technology described above. You understand that you may at any time (including prior to the submission of this form) deny or revoke your consent to receive calls, messages or texts regarding offers for services or other solicitations by sending an email containing your name and phone number to owner@arbitration101.com.
3. You represent that you are not a citizen of the European Union and will not become a European Union citizen while you are bound under these terms and conditions. If you become a European Union citizen, you will immediately notify Arbitration 101.
4. The Terms of Use posted at arbitration 101.com, if any, are incorporated into these terms and conditions and I agree to be bound by them, to the extent they do not conflict with these terms and conditions. If there are no Terms of Use posted at arbitration 101.com, then the following terms shall govern your usage of and access to our website:
5. You may only use our website for purposes that are marketed, displayed, advertised or expressly permitted by Arbitration 101. The following are not permitted: attempting to gain access to non-public parts of Arbitration 101 and scraping images or content (using a computer or otherwise) for use on another website or for another business service.
6. You are solely responsible for protecting your own account password and other account information.
7. If you do not agree to the terms of use in this section, then you agree to immediately leave our website.
8. A notice that follows the instructions in this agreement takes effect 2 days after sending, unless the receiver proves that the Notice was not received by the person it was addressed to.
9. You agree that Arbitration 101 may change its terms and conditions and this Agreement from time to time by updating the terms and conditions on its website.
10. These terms and conditions are the entire agreement between Arbitration 101 and you in connection with its subject matter and supersedes all previous agreements or understandings between me and Arbitration 101 in connection with its subject matter.
11. A term or part of a term of these terms and conditions that is illegal or unenforceable may be severed from the terms and conditions and the remaining terms or parts of the terms of the agreement will continue in force.
12. Except where the agreement expressly states otherwise, the agreement does not create a relationship of employment, trust, agency or partnership between me and Arbitration 101 or its personnel.
13. A waiver of a right, power or remedy must be in writing and signed by the party giving the waiver.
14. Assignment and novation.
15. I will obtain the prior written approval of Arbitration 101 to assign, novate or otherwise transfer this Agreement or any part of it.
16. Arbitration 101 may assign, transfer or novate its rights and obligations under the terms and conditions from time to time.
17. These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of Texas and, except as required by the Arbitration Provision, each party irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of California and the courts having appeal from them.