By Adam Shoneck

The American Arbitration Association^® (AAA^®) recently released its 2024 Mass Arbitration: Consumer & Employment Infographic, a visual deep dive into the fast-evolving world of mass arbitration. As the volume and visibility of mass arbitrations grow, so does the need for clear, data-driven insights into what’s happening in those cases.

Why the AAA Shares This Data

Transparency and data help everyone—businesses, consumers, employees, and legal professionals—navigate arbitration more effectively. 
Whether you’re drafting arbitration clauses, participating in a filing, or analyzing trends, this snapshot is a valuable tool for understanding the current landscape of mass arbitration.

The Big Picture: A Year of Numbers

In 2024, the AAA received:

• 82 consumer mass arbitrations, comprising a total of 247,327 individual filings¹
• 10 employment/workplace mass arbitrations, comprising 33,022 individual filings

Together, that’s more than 280,000 individual claims filed with the AAA in 2024 under mass arbitration umbrellas—a sharp illustration of just how significant this procedure has become. But numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. That’s where AAA’s data helps clarify what happens in these cases.

What Happens to the Claims?

From those hundreds of thousands of filings, only a portion proceeded to individual merits arbitration in 2024:

•    24,043 consumer cases
•    437 employment cases

This means roughly 10% of consumer filings and just over 1% of employment/workplace filings made it to this stage in 2024. Some of the remaining cases still may proceed to the merits stage, or they may resolve.

And how do cases resolve? For closed, individual merits arbitrations, the infographic’s pie charts show it clearly:

For consumer cases (of 7,123 closed in 2024):

• 59% settled
• 30% dismissed 
• 10% withdrawn
• 1% awarded
• Less than 1% were closed administratively or due to consolidation

For employment/workplace cases (of 2,558 closed):

• 77% settled
• 14% withdrawn
• 5% administrative closures
• 2% awarded

The rest were consolidated or dismissed

So, while the volume of mass arbitration filings is high, final awards remain rare—just 1–2% of closed, individual merits arbitration cases in 2024. 

2024 Award Statistics

Consumer:

• Average award: $10,131
• Median award: $7,537
• Largest award: $33,742
• Total awarded: $364,699

Employment/Workplace:

• Average award: $124,603
• Median award: $22,667
• Largest award: $1,736,962
• Total awarded: $2,865,860

The higher dollar amounts of employment awards reflect the nature of employment claims, which often involve higher dollar wage, discrimination, or retaliation disputes.

Top Industries for Mass Arbitration Filings

The top industries section provides a snapshot of where mass arbitrations arose in 2024:

Consumer Industries:

• Gaming/Entertainment: 101,549 filings
• Telecommunications: 37,975
• Healthcare: 32,318
• Financial Services: 21,842
• Technology: 18,817

Employment/Workplace Industries:

• Technology: 31,932 filings
• Restaurant/Food Service: 568
• Transportation: 204
• Healthcare: 173
• Financial Services: 54

This distribution tracks with industries that operate at scale and frequently use arbitration clauses in consumer and employment agreements.

What the Data Tells Us (And Why It Matters)

Here’s what stands out from the data:

1. While the number of mass arbitration filings is high, only a portion have reached individual merits arbitration in 2024, and a smaller percentage have reached an award.
2. With nearly 60–77% of cases in individual merits arbitration settling, parties are often choosing their own resolution.
3. Very large mass arbitrations can result in large data fluctuations. If more of the 280,000 claims filed with the AAA in 2024 move forward, the data landscape for 2025 may be different. 

For more information, visit adr.org/mass-arbitration.