Scott Kimbell is having the experience of a lifetime: His house is falling down! Everyone dreams of building their own house and when those dreams turn to trouble, you would hope there would be an avenue for justice. Hope? Not when the contractor you hire gets you to sign one of those forms that contains a provision requiring all disputes to be resolved by arbitration.

While Scott’s personal battle with a particular contractor is truly a travesty, there is supposed to be a level playing field: the courts of this State. And for all of you that may be getting a little snear at the cornor of your mouth, you probably are fortunate enough that you have never needed someone to fight for your rights. While I hope your luck continues, should it not, I hope you find a good lawyer and avail yourself of the constitutional right to go to court. Even snear monger Larry Craig learned that!

Arbitration is one of those ideas that would be a great alternative to a court of law, if it worked, if it were fair, if it provided any semblence of a level playing field. But this great idea (I give it the benefit of the doubt!) has been hijacked by the professionals (architects, contractors, etc.,) that it is supposed to keep in check. Instead, it is the one time player, the consumer, who is eviscerated by the process under the guise of fair play.

Just listen to Scott! He will tell you!!

More coming on arbitration, but I thought this would be good listening on a rainy Saturday.