Reference
Glossary
117 terms across mass arbitration practice and the aggregate litigation vocabulary that surrounds it — provider machinery and clause anatomy alongside Rule 23, MDL, and the economics that drive both.
117 terms
A
- Adequacy of RepresentationThe requirement that the representative and counsel will fairly protect absent members' interests.
- Administrative ClosureA provider's termination of filed cases, typically for non-payment of required fees.
- Affirmation RequirementA provider rule obliging counsel to attest that each claimant's information is accurate.
- Aggregate Settlement (Mass Arbitration)Global resolution of a mass filing inventory, typically at a fraction of the administrative fee exposure.
- American Arbitration Association (AAA)The largest US arbitration provider, and the default forum named in most consumer clauses.
- ArbitrabilityWhether a given dispute may be resolved in arbitration at all.
- Arbitral AwardThe arbitrator's binding determination of the dispute.
- Arbitration AgreementThe contract term committing disputes to arbitration rather than court.
- Arbitration Carve-OutCategories of dispute excluded from the arbitration obligation.
- Arbitration ClauseThe operative text: scope, provider, rules, allocation of fees, and waivers.
- Arbitration Reform ProposalsLegislative efforts to restrict or condition pre-dispute arbitration in consumer and employment contracts.
- Arbitrator CompensationThe neutral's hourly or daily rate, allocated by rule or agreement.
- AscertainabilityThe implied requirement that class membership be determinable by objective criteria.
B
- Batchingalso Batch arbitration, Staged arbitrationA contractual mechanism releasing mass demands in fixed tranches rather than all at once.
- Bellwether Provision (Arbitration)A clause under which a small sample of arbitrations is resolved first, with results shaping or binding the remainder.
- Bellwether TrialA representative case tried to verdict to inform valuation of the wider inventory.
- Blow-Up Provisionalso Poison pillA term providing that if part of the arbitration scheme fails, the whole agreement — or the class waiver — falls with it.
C
- California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1281.97–1281.98California's statutory deadline requiring the drafting party to pay arbitration fees within 30 days.
- Case Management FeeA per-case administrative charge that historically dominated mass filing costs.
- Census RegistryAn early MDL mechanism capturing basic information about every claim, filed or unfiled.
- Claim AggregationAssembling many small, individually uneconomic claims into a portfolio with meaningful leverage.
- Claim SuppressionThe net effect of procedural requirements that deter, delay, or defeat claims regardless of merit.
- Claim ValueThe expected recovery on an individual claim, discounted for risk and cost.
- Claimant Solicitationalso Lead generationDigital recruitment of claimants at scale through targeted advertising and intake automation.
- Claimant VettingVerification that each claimant is real, identifiable, and actually bound by the arbitration agreement.
- Claims AdministratorThe third party that processes claims, validates documentation, and distributes settlement funds.
- Class ActionA representative action in which a named plaintiff litigates on behalf of a defined class.
- Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA)The 2005 statute expanding federal jurisdiction over class actions.
- Class Action WaiverA term barring claimants from proceeding on a class, collective, or representative basis.
- Class CertificationThe court order permitting a case to proceed on behalf of a class.
- Class NoticeThe communication informing class members of the action and their rights.
- Common Benefit FundAn assessment on recoveries that compensates leadership counsel for work benefiting all claimants.
- Common Fund DoctrineThe equitable principle allowing counsel who create a fund to be paid from it.
- CommonalityThe requirement that class members share a common question capable of classwide resolution.
- Confidentiality ProvisionA term restricting disclosure of proceedings, evidence, or outcomes.
- Contingency FeeCounsel's fee taken as a percentage of recovery, payable only on success.
- Contract of AdhesionA standard-form contract offered on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.
- Coordinated CounselThe same firm, or firms acting in concert, representing the claimant population in a mass filing.
- Cost-of-Defence SettlementSettlement priced by the cost of resisting rather than the merits of the claim.
- Cy PresDistribution of undistributable class funds to a purpose approximating class members' interests.
D
- Daubert ChallengeA motion to exclude expert testimony as unreliable under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
- Defendant Fact Sheet (DFS)The defendant's reciprocal case-specific disclosure in an MDL.
- Delegation ClauseA provision assigning questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator rather than a court.
- Demand for ArbitrationThe filing that commences an arbitration and starts the fee clock.
- Design DefectA claim that the product's design itself was unreasonably dangerous.
- Discovery in ArbitrationThe limited exchange of information available in arbitral proceedings.
- Discovery RuleThe principle that limitations begins to run when the claimant knew or should have known of the injury and its cause.
- Due Process (Arbitral)The minimum procedural fairness an arbitral scheme must afford.
E
- Effective Vindication DoctrineThe narrow principle that an arbitration clause cannot operate as a prospective waiver of federal statutory rights.
- Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Actalso EFAAThe 2022 federal statute giving claimants the option to void pre-dispute arbitration agreements for sexual assault and harassment claims.
- Evidentiary PreconditionA clause term requiring documentary proof of a claim before arbitration may be initiated.
F
- FAA PreemptionThe displacement of state law that obstructs enforcement of arbitration agreements.
- Failure to WarnA products claim that the manufacturer did not adequately disclose a known or knowable risk.
- Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)The 1925 statute making written arbitration agreements valid, irrevocable, and enforceable.
- Fee Non-PaymentA respondent's refusal to pay provider fees, forcing closure of the filed demands.
- Fee ShiftingA statutory or contractual rule making one side responsible for the other's fees.
- Filing FeeThe fee payable to a provider to commence an arbitration.
- Final FeeA per-case charge assessed at the merits stage of an administered arbitration.
G
I
- Incorporation of Provider RulesA clause term adopting an arbitration provider's rules as part of the contract.
- Informal Resolution Periodalso Cooling-off periodA mandatory waiting window between notice and the right to file.
- Initiation FeeUnder the AAA's post-2024 mass regime, a flat fee covering the initiation stage regardless of claim count.
J
L
M
- Mass ArbitrationHundreds or thousands of individually filed, legally identical arbitration demands brought against one respondent at once.
- Mass Arbitration ProtocolThe bespoke procedural regime a clause imposes once mass filings are triggered.
- Mass Filing ThresholdThe number of similar demands that triggers a provider's mass arbitration rules.
- Mass TortLarge numbers of personal injury claims arising from a common product, exposure, or event.
- McGill RuleCalifornia's rule that a contractual waiver of the right to seek public injunctive relief in any forum is unenforceable.
- Medical LienA healthcare payer's right to reimbursement out of a claimant's recovery.
- Motion to Compel ArbitrationThe application asking a court to enforce an arbitration agreement against a party proceeding in litigation.
- Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)Federal consolidation of related civil actions before one judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings.
N
- Named Plaintiffalso Class representativeThe class member who appears of record and represents absent members.
- Negative-Value ClaimA claim worth less than the cost of pursuing it individually.
- New Era ADRA newer arbitration provider whose mass rules were held unconscionable as applied in a leading Ninth Circuit case.
- New York ConventionThe 1958 treaty governing international recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards.
- NumerosityThe requirement that the class be so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.
O
- ObjectorA class member who challenges a proposed settlement at the fairness hearing.
- Opt-Out ClassA Rule 23(b)(3) class whose members may exclude themselves and preserve individual claims.
- Opt-Out ClauseA window in which a consumer may reject the arbitration agreement without losing the underlying service.
P
- Plaintiff Fact Sheet (PFS)A standardised questionnaire each plaintiff completes in lieu of individual interrogatories.
- Pre-Arbitration Noticealso Notice of disputeA contractual requirement to notify the respondent and attempt informal resolution before filing.
- PredominanceThe Rule 23(b)(3) requirement that common questions predominate over individual ones.
- Preemption (Products)The defence that federal regulatory requirements displace state-law product claims.
- Procedural UnconscionabilityDefects in how the agreement was formed: oppression and surprise.
- Process AdministratorThe JAMS equivalent of a Process Arbitrator, charged with preliminary and administrative determinations.
- Process ArbitratorAn AAA-appointed neutral who resolves administrative disputes before merits arbitrators are appointed.
- Product IdentificationProof that the claimant used or was exposed to this defendant's product.
- Punitive DamagesDamages awarded to punish and deter rather than compensate.
Q
R
S
- Section 524(g) TrustA bankruptcy trust that assumes asbestos liabilities under a channelling injunction.
- Settlement ClassA class certified for settlement purposes only.
- Settlement Matrixalso Compensation gridThe formula assigning settlement values to claims by injury severity and other objective factors.
- Severability ClauseA term preserving the remainder of an agreement if part is held invalid.
- Small Claims Carve-OutA clause term preserving the right to bring qualifying claims in small claims court.
- Special MasterA neutral appointed under Rule 53 to manage discrete aspects of complex litigation.
- Specific CausationWhether the product actually caused this claimant's injury.
- Staggered Processingalso Sequential processingResolving mass demands in sequence rather than in parallel.
- Statute of LimitationsThe period within which a claim must be brought, running from accrual.
- Statute of ReposeAn absolute outer deadline running from the defendant's conduct rather than the plaintiff's injury.
- Substantive UnconscionabilityTerms so one-sided as to shock the conscience.
- SuperiorityThe requirement that a class action be the superior method of adjudication.
T
- Texas Two-StepA divisive merger that places tort liabilities in a new entity which then files for bankruptcy.
- Third-Party Litigation FundingOutside capital advanced against a share of litigation proceeds.
- Tolling AgreementA contract suspending the limitations period while claims are evaluated outside litigation.
- Tolling ProvisionA clause suspending limitations periods while claimants wait in a batching or bellwether queue.
- TypicalityThe requirement that the representative's claims be typical of the class.
U
V
W
Browse by category
Mass Arbitration
The mechanics, tactics, and drafting vocabulary specific to coordinated individual filings.
- Administrative Closure
- Affirmation Requirement
- Aggregate Settlement (Mass Arbitration)
- Arbitration Carve-Out
- Batching
- Bellwether Provision (Arbitration)
- Blow-Up Provision
- Claim Aggregation
- Claim Suppression
- Claimant Solicitation
- Claimant Vetting
- Coordinated Counsel
- Demand for Arbitration
- Evidentiary Precondition
- Fee Non-Payment
- Informal Resolution Period
- Mass Arbitration
- Mass Arbitration Protocol
- Mass Filing Threshold
- Opt-Out Clause
- Pre-Arbitration Notice
- Process Administrator
- Process Arbitrator
- Small Claims Carve-Out
- Staggered Processing
- Tolling Provision
Arbitration Procedure
Clause anatomy, provider machinery, awards, and the road from demand to enforcement.
- American Arbitration Association (AAA)
- Arbitrability
- Arbitral Award
- Arbitration Agreement
- Arbitration Clause
- Confidentiality Provision
- Delegation Clause
- Discovery in Arbitration
- Due Process (Arbitral)
- Gateway Questions
- Incorporation of Provider Rules
- JAMS
- Motion to Compel Arbitration
- New Era ADR
- New York Convention
- Reasoned Award
- Severability Clause
- Vacatur
- Waiver of Arbitration
Doctrine & Statutes
The FAA, preemption, unconscionability, and the statutory carve-outs that bound them.
- Arbitration Reform Proposals
- California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1281.97–1281.98
- Class Action Waiver
- Contract of Adhesion
- Effective Vindication Doctrine
- Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act
- FAA Preemption
- Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)
- McGill Rule
- Procedural Unconscionability
- Substantive Unconscionability
- Unconscionability
Class Actions
Rule 23 vocabulary — the forum mass arbitration was designed to replace, and increasingly returns to.
Mass Tort & MDL
Aggregate personal-injury practice: MDL structure, bellwethers, causation, and settlement architecture.
- Bellwether Trial
- Census Registry
- Claims Administrator
- Common Benefit Fund
- Daubert Challenge
- Defendant Fact Sheet (DFS)
- Design Defect
- Discovery Rule
- Failure to Warn
- General Causation
- Global Settlement
- Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML)
- Learned Intermediary Doctrine
- Lone Pine Order
- Mass Tort
- Medical Lien
- Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)
- Plaintiff Fact Sheet (PFS)
- Preemption (Products)
- Product Identification
- Punitive Damages
- Qualified Settlement Fund (QSF)
- Section 524(g) Trust
- Settlement Matrix
- Special Master
- Specific Causation
- Statute of Limitations
- Statute of Repose
- Texas Two-Step
- Tolling Agreement
Fees & Funding
Who pays for what, when — the economics that make aggregate dispute resolution move.