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Mediator Certification in California
December 5, 2013
Over the past year, I participated in a committee formed by the Southern California Mediation Association, and chaired by SCMA past president Barbara Brown, to study the question of mediator certification or regulation. We started our work without any preconceived agenda, knowing only that our organization had opposed a proposal to have mediators regulated by the California State Bar. We were against that, but we did not yet know what we were for. We knew that there were a wide range of views on this...
December 5, 2013
Over the past year, I participated in a committee formed by the Southern California Mediation Association, and chaired by SCMA past president Barbara Brown, to study the question of mediator certification or regulation. We started our work without any preconceived agenda, knowing only that our organization had opposed a proposal to have mediators regulated by the California State Bar. We were against that, but we did not yet know what we were for. We knew that there were a wide range of views on this...
Why Unpaid Interns Are Suing Employers
December 4, 2013
Eric Glatt was in the library at Georgetown Law Center when he got the call last summer. On the other end of the line was his lawyer Juno Turner, an associate at New York's Golden & Outten. We won, she said. With those two words, Glatt, who holds an MBA from Case Western University and is now working toward a law degree, became the unconventional hero for unpaid interns everywhere. Nearly two years earlier, Glatt and coplaintiff Alexander Footman had filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight...
December 4, 2013
Eric Glatt was in the library at Georgetown Law Center when he got the call last summer. On the other end of the line was his lawyer Juno Turner, an associate at New York's Golden & Outten. We won, she said. With those two words, Glatt, who holds an MBA from Case Western University and is now working toward a law degree, became the unconventional hero for unpaid interns everywhere. Nearly two years earlier, Glatt and coplaintiff Alexander Footman had filed a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight...
Improving Arbitration-Award Making and Enforcement by Faithfully Implementing the Purposes and Objectives of the Federal Arbitration Act, Part II
December 4, 2013
Part II: A Consent-Based Framework for Enforcing Arbitration Awards Enforcing Arbitration Agreements to Promote Arbitration The purposes and objectives of the FAA are the same whether the question is whether arbitration should be compelled, litigation should be stayed or an award confirmed or vacated. The cornerstone of the FAA is the enforcement mandate of Section 2, which says: “A written provision in any maritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle...
December 4, 2013
Part II: A Consent-Based Framework for Enforcing Arbitration Awards Enforcing Arbitration Agreements to Promote Arbitration The purposes and objectives of the FAA are the same whether the question is whether arbitration should be compelled, litigation should be stayed or an award confirmed or vacated. The cornerstone of the FAA is the enforcement mandate of Section 2, which says: “A written provision in any maritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle...
Fifth Circuit Invalidates NLRB Order Prohibiting Clauses In Covered Employment Agreement Waiving Class/Collective Claims and Requiring Individual Arbitration
December 4, 2013
In the controversial case of D.R. Horton v. National Labor Relations Board (No. 12-60031, Dec. 3, 2013), the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today vacated, in a 2-1 decision, orders of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invalidating an employee arbitration agreement that waived class and collective procedures and compelled individual arbitration. This case, along with sister cases in other Circuits, is likely to come before the US Supreme Court in due course. In the meantime,...
December 4, 2013
In the controversial case of D.R. Horton v. National Labor Relations Board (No. 12-60031, Dec. 3, 2013), the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today vacated, in a 2-1 decision, orders of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invalidating an employee arbitration agreement that waived class and collective procedures and compelled individual arbitration. This case, along with sister cases in other Circuits, is likely to come before the US Supreme Court in due course. In the meantime,...
Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements Validated in NLRB Loss in the Fifth Circuit
December 4, 2013
A decision handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans Tuesday upheld the use of class or collective action waivers in arbitration agreements. The decision in D.R. Horton Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, argued before the court back in February, overturned the NLRB’s previous decision, which held that the massive Texas-based residential building company was violating the National Labor Relations Act when it required employees to sign a waiver that prevents...
December 4, 2013
A decision handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans Tuesday upheld the use of class or collective action waivers in arbitration agreements. The decision in D.R. Horton Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, argued before the court back in February, overturned the NLRB’s previous decision, which held that the massive Texas-based residential building company was violating the National Labor Relations Act when it required employees to sign a waiver that prevents...
Why Attorneys Love-Hate Data Analytics
December 4, 2013
Die-hard Oakland A's fans were angry with general manager Billy Beane when he used computer-generated analytics to pick his players in 2002. Fans doubted that a computer could out think the scouts and experts in the stands. So their trip to the playoffs that season, as well as the following year, shocked the baseball world–—and convinced other teams there might just be something valuable in crunching numbers. Well, that was baseball. Legal professionals, on the other hand, still need some...
December 4, 2013
Die-hard Oakland A's fans were angry with general manager Billy Beane when he used computer-generated analytics to pick his players in 2002. Fans doubted that a computer could out think the scouts and experts in the stands. So their trip to the playoffs that season, as well as the following year, shocked the baseball world–—and convinced other teams there might just be something valuable in crunching numbers. Well, that was baseball. Legal professionals, on the other hand, still need some...
Unsettled
December 3, 2013
It wasn't long after the National Football League reached a tentative settlement with players over their concussion lawsuit that "tentative" seemed to be sliding toward "tenuous." It remains to be seen how many players will opt out of the settlement and pursue litigation—once the settlement is finalized. Even before U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia held a hearing on the proposed $765 million settlement (at press time a hearing was still pending), critics were attacking it as inadequate....
December 3, 2013
It wasn't long after the National Football League reached a tentative settlement with players over their concussion lawsuit that "tentative" seemed to be sliding toward "tenuous." It remains to be seen how many players will opt out of the settlement and pursue litigation—once the settlement is finalized. Even before U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia held a hearing on the proposed $765 million settlement (at press time a hearing was still pending), critics were attacking it as inadequate....
Enforcing Arbitral Awards That Have Previously Been Annulled
December 3, 2013
In their International Litigation column, Lawrence W. Newman and David Zaslowsky of Baker & McKenzie write: If an arbitration award is annulled in the courts of the country where the arbitration took place, can it nevertheless be enforced by the courts of another country? A recent decision in the Southern District of New York addressed and answered that very question.
December 3, 2013
In their International Litigation column, Lawrence W. Newman and David Zaslowsky of Baker & McKenzie write: If an arbitration award is annulled in the courts of the country where the arbitration took place, can it nevertheless be enforced by the courts of another country? A recent decision in the Southern District of New York addressed and answered that very question.
Arbitration Agreements Waiving FLSA Collective Actions
December 3, 2013
In their Arbitration column, Samuel Estreicher, a professor at New York University School of Law and of counsel to Schulte Roth & Zabel, and Holly H. Weiss, a partner at Schulte Roth, write: The Second Circuit has extended the Supreme Court's pro-arbitration jurisprudence to the labor and employment context through 'Parisi,' 'Sutherland,' and 'Raniere.' Employers and employees can expect courts in this circuit routinely to uphold arbitration agreements that, while they preclude class or collective...
December 3, 2013
In their Arbitration column, Samuel Estreicher, a professor at New York University School of Law and of counsel to Schulte Roth & Zabel, and Holly H. Weiss, a partner at Schulte Roth, write: The Second Circuit has extended the Supreme Court's pro-arbitration jurisprudence to the labor and employment context through 'Parisi,' 'Sutherland,' and 'Raniere.' Employers and employees can expect courts in this circuit routinely to uphold arbitration agreements that, while they preclude class or collective...
Mediated Settlement Term Sheet Upheld Against Claims of Uncertainty and Mistake
December 3, 2013
Mediation between two accountants resulted in a signed term sheet dividing the work and compensation from clients of a third...
December 3, 2013
Mediation between two accountants resulted in a signed term sheet dividing the work and compensation from clients of a third...
