Ruling is Blow to Credit Card Holders

In July 1999, Discover Bank added an arbitration clause to its cardholder agreement stipulating that cardholders could pursue complaints against Discover only through individual arbitration cases and specifically prohibited customers from joining class-action arbitrations. On Tuesday, a state appeals court ruled that Discover Bank could include the provision in its cardholder agreements. The decision could hinder future class-action cases against credit card companies in California. Discover was represented by Rick Richmond and C. Robert Boldt of Kirkland & Ellis in Los Angeles.

This article appeared in its entirety in the January 15, 2003 issue of the Los Angeles Times.