The validity, construction, and interpretation of this Agreement, and the rights and duties of the parties hereto, will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Puerto Rico, in the Territories of the United States, excluding its conflicts of laws principles. However, as explained below, the agreement to arbitrate in the following paragraph is governed by United States federal law.
You agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or in connection with R2R/OMG business or this Agreement or relating in any way to the Program or the R2R/OMG Properties shall be determined by binding arbitration. You further agree that the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of this agreement to arbitrate.
Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, and is more informal than a lawsuit in state or federal court. Discovery in arbitration is more limited than is generally available in the courts and the arbitrator’s decision is also subject to very limited appellate review by the courts.
You also agree to waive the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. These waivers are mutual as between you and R2R/OMG, and R2R/OMG waives its right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action against you. This means that neither you nor R2R/OMG can seek to assert class or representative claims against each other either in court or in arbitration and no relief can be awarded on a class or representative basis. The arbitrator also may not consolidate or join another person’s claim with your claim or issue an order that would achieve the same result. You and R2R/OMG further agree that if the provisions of this paragraph are found to be unenforceable, then the entire provision compelling arbitration shall be null and void.
You also agree that all issues are for the arbitrator to decide. This includes all issues related to the scope, application, interpretation and enforceability of this Agreement and this arbitration provision. The arbitrator shall also decide whether any claim is subject to arbitration.
The arbitration will be governed by the Commercial Arbitration Rules (the “AAA Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), as modified by this Agreement, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules are available online at www.adr.com. The arbitrator is bound by the terms of this Agreement. If your claim in arbitration is for less than $10,000, R2R/OMG will reimburse you for filing and arbitrator fees at the conclusion of the proceeding unless your claim is found to be frivolous by the arbitrator.
In lieu of arbitration, you may also elect to have your claims decided in small-claims court, so long as the small-claims court does not permit class, representative, or consolidated actions, or the award of relief in favor of any person or entity that is not a named party to the small-claims action.