Join us for a discussion of Brendan Ballou’s newest work, which definitively exposes more of the seedy underbelly of the American legal system.

About the book: America has a hidden justice system. There, decisions are made in secret, and “judges” are paid for by the companies and abusers who are being sued. Victims usually lose. But when they do, they cannot appeal, and they cannot turn to real courts for help.

They are trapped in this system, and quite likely, so are you. You joined it when you accepted the Terms and Conditions on a website, opened a new credit card, or started a new job. When you did, you agreed to be trapped in this secret justice system called “forced arbitration.” Through its secrecy and corruption, forced arbitration helps companies cheat their workers, helps banks deceive their customers, and helps predators act with impunity. If companies and the very powerful often seem beyond the reach of the law, it’s because they are, and forced arbitration is the reason.

Yet despite the fact that forced arbitration profoundly shapes our lives, almost nothing has been written about it. Brendan Ballou’s When Companies Run the Courts changes that. It shows how forced arbitration came to be, how it makes your life worse, and how we might escape it.

Brendan Ballou is the founder of the Public Integrity Project. He is a former federal prosecutor, and for two years prosecuted rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He previously served as special counsel for private equity in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. He is the author of Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America, and When Companies Run the Courts: Forced Arbitration and America’s Secret Justice System.

If you’d like to purchase this title online and still support People’s Book, follow the link below:

https://bookshop.org/a/98269/9781541705715

This is an in-person event. Seated capacity at People’s Book is 50 patrons. Standing room is an option. All events are first-come, first-served seating. Accessible seating is always available.