The Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas has affirmed a lower court’s decision to confirm an arbitral award in a construction dispute. In Goldman v. Buchanan, Beryl Goldman entered into a contract to design and build a new house with an architect, Russell Buchanan, and a builder, Lawrence Wallace. The parties’ agreement contained an arbitration provision.

In a recent paper entitled “Arbitration and Access to Justice: Economic Analysis”, University of Chicago Law School Professor Omri Ben-Shahar argues that mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts generally benefit most consumers. He also states that limiting access to arbitration in favor of a courtroom often provides an advantage to only the most elite consumers.

Since 2000, the World intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has provided arbitration services for alleged cybersquatting disputes. Last year, the number of domain name disputes arbitrated through WIPO jumped by an estimated five percent to reach nearly 3,000.

Last week, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Board approved a measure that may make it easier for investors to select arbitrators in a dispute against a securities brokerage. The newly approved measure would authorize the parties to a dispute that exceeds $100,000 to select a panel chairman, a public arbitrator, and an arbitrator with industry ties from a FINRA list immediately.