We've built an open source database of consumer and employee arbitration cases. We've also generated summary data pages for each party (defendants, attorneys, arbitrators, etc.). We used Discourse to make a forum that links to each case and allows people to discuss them or tell their story.
A problem we saw while dealing with a personal arbitration was that this data was out there but nobody was making it usable for regular folks. Also, some forums where people were helping each other disappeared, including all of that useful history (FatWallet comes to mind). So we did both.
One of the coolest things you can do is research a company you’re considering filing against or look up the decision history of arbitrators. From there you can find and reach out to attorneys that have gone up against them or similar companies. You can filter by state - though last we checked, arbitration doesn’t require an attorney be licensed in your state.
Here are all of the ways you can filter the data: https://levelplayingfield.io/search-help. We’ve used this as an excuse to experiment with different technologies. Our search syntax emulated Github but may be too difficult for the general public.
Lots of people use the database every day. Our hosting is donated. We’ve been cited in prestigious law journal articles, major news articles, and are reference material at the Yale Law Library =)
There are a lot of interesting untold stories in this data. When we have time or volunteers, we tell stories on our blog (no time or volunteers lately). If you just browse, search words and sort party data by count, you’ll find interesting things… Try it.
The data only becomes available after a case is over. So pending cases do not show up but we invite those with active arbitrations to tell their stories in our forum. Consumer arbitrations are rarely confidential but employment arbitrations usually are. Sharing stories helps the next person, even if it’s five years later. People message us regularly with awesome stories.
We can imagine lots of improvements but lack time. Want to play with new technology in a way that might help people? Make a PR or send us an email. We may be slow to respond but we will get back to you. Promise.
Our real life is https://coManage.com. It’s similar but instead of leveraging idle legal data to help people, we leverage idle property management data to help people. Anyways, that’s another story.
This is interesting. Thx. The problem we've always had with smart locks at scale is connectivity headaches, which require a technical person as advanced or more than a locksmith.
When you perform a move out or move in inspection, you change the key. It's super easy. The reset tool can fit in your wallet or glove compartment. It's a big change versus having to change the cylinder as in the past. Having to manage a load of electronic locks is likely more costly. Again, this is long-term rentals not short-term.
As for self-tours, they make electronic lockboxes. They've been around forever and used by every MLS.
I know very large REITs that use Kwikset Smart Keys. They have a dozen keys and just reset to a different of the dozen after every move out. Tens of thousands of homes and never had a problem. It’s security through obscurity. Plus locks are easy to break/bypass for someone that’s motivated to do so. It’s the casual crime of opportunity that you can guard against.
Social security is a separate trust. Medicare is far more efficient than private insurance. It could be even more efficient but is hamstrung by corruption in Congress. Being unable to negotiate drug prices is a good example.
Conspiracy theories are a placebo effect for control. I can't control the world but I can control what I want to believe about the world and that helps me feel like I'm in control.
>“The Army’s mobile reactor program, which was never requested by the Pentagon but rather by nuclear industry cheerleaders in Congress, is precisely how disasters happen,” he said in the report, which was released in April.
It’s interesting how nuclear gets an alliance between green groups and fossil fuel interests. It always makes me wonder how much criticism is in good faith. Nuclear can wipe out natural gas and coal and perhaps even oil with the rise of cheap storage. Fossil fuel interests have an economic interest in defeating nuclear with fear and regulatory red tape.