[pktgen]

> I pointed out that class action/courts generally at least required a licensed lawyer to maintain and work on the suit, which was expensive, whereas arbitration could be done by lay people, and that he was essentially betting that nobody could make it cost effective to have a paralegal or someone manage fifty arbitrations at once, or a class arbitration.

This depends on the state. Some states still consider that to be unauthorized practice of law, even in arbitration.

Even if a law firm wants to manage hundreds of individual arbitrations, finding individual people to opt in makes that very difficult. In consumer cases, the harm to individual consumers is often very small. The law firm would have to advertise to those consumers somehow and those consumers would have to take the time to opt in and give individual attention to the minimally-valued case - just not very practical or scalable.

[DannyBee]

"This depends on the state. Some states still consider that to be unauthorized practice of law, even in arbitration."

This is almost certain to be challenged eventually, and those states will lose.