Currently there is the ever increasing use of “arbitration” clauses in landlord leases, medical and hospital records, and contracts of various types.
An “arbitration” clause is one that provides that if the entity with whom you are dealing (landlord, hospital, doctor, etc.) becomes negligent and causes you a harm or injury to your person or property, that by the force of this clause you thereby agree that you will give up or waive your legal rights to pursue a case in court by a lawsuit, waive your right to a trial by jury, and that you would have agreed to submit your injury claim to an arbitrator.
The caution is, when entering any agreement, to read it carefully and “look before you leap” to make sure that by signing the document you would consciously and knowingly be giving up a recovery right that the law otherwise provides and thereby sacrificing the right that we all have as Americans—the all important right to a trial by jury.
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