Mass Arbitration Protocol
The bespoke procedural regime a clause imposes once mass filings are triggered.
A protocol bundles the trigger threshold, the batching or bellwether structure, provider selection, fee allocation, discovery limits, confidentiality, and tolling into a single contractual apparatus. Because these regimes are drafted unilaterally by the party they are designed to protect, they draw heightened scrutiny under state unconscionability law — and courts have shown particular hostility to protocols that are internally inconsistent, that route disputes to a provider with rules favouring the drafter, or that leave claimants without a meaningful path to an individual determination.
See also
- BatchingA 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.
- UnconscionabilityThe contract defence that voids terms that are both oppressively imposed and unreasonably one-sided.
- Delegation ClauseA provision assigning questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator rather than a court.
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