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Consumer Arbitration Unconscionability Trumps FAA Pre-Emption in Ninth Circuit Once Again
December 3, 2013
A California grocery chain, presumably emboldened by Supreme Court decisions that appeared to sustain corporate arbitration policies used to stifle consumer and employee class actions, took a gamble and, at least in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, lost. This grocer fashioned an arbitration policy, imposed on applicants for employment as a condition for receiving their applications, that: (1) ensured that when an employee demanded arbitration, the grocer would pick the sole arbitrator, and (2) required...
December 3, 2013
A California grocery chain, presumably emboldened by Supreme Court decisions that appeared to sustain corporate arbitration policies used to stifle consumer and employee class actions, took a gamble and, at least in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, lost. This grocer fashioned an arbitration policy, imposed on applicants for employment as a condition for receiving their applications, that: (1) ensured that when an employee demanded arbitration, the grocer would pick the sole arbitrator, and (2) required...
The CBS – Time Warner Cable Dispute: Making a Bad BATNA Even Worse
December 2, 2013
On October 31, Time Warner Cable reported a huge quarterly loss of television subscribers, the largest in its history: 306,000 of its 11.7 million subscribers dropped the company, the New York Times reports. The bad news has been attributed largely to an impasse with television network CBS over fees, which led to Time Warner blacking CBS out of millions of homes in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas for a month this summer. The agreement reached by the two parties was viewed as a victory for CBS,...
December 2, 2013
On October 31, Time Warner Cable reported a huge quarterly loss of television subscribers, the largest in its history: 306,000 of its 11.7 million subscribers dropped the company, the New York Times reports. The bad news has been attributed largely to an impasse with television network CBS over fees, which led to Time Warner blacking CBS out of millions of homes in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas for a month this summer. The agreement reached by the two parties was viewed as a victory for CBS,...
Developing a Framework for Arbitrating Standards-Essential Patent (SEP) Disputes
December 2, 2013
Jorge L. Contreras, Associate Professor of Law at American University, Washington College of Law, and David L. Newman, Partner in the Intellectual Property Law Group at Arnstein & Lehr LLP, have authored an interesting article entitled, Developing a Framework for Arbitrating Standards-Essential Patent (SEP) Disputes, Journal of Dispute Resolution, (2014, forthcoming). In the article, the authors discuss whether arbitration should be used to resolve standards-essential patents disputes. Here...
December 2, 2013
Jorge L. Contreras, Associate Professor of Law at American University, Washington College of Law, and David L. Newman, Partner in the Intellectual Property Law Group at Arnstein & Lehr LLP, have authored an interesting article entitled, Developing a Framework for Arbitrating Standards-Essential Patent (SEP) Disputes, Journal of Dispute Resolution, (2014, forthcoming). In the article, the authors discuss whether arbitration should be used to resolve standards-essential patents disputes. Here...
Doug Noll’s Advanced Legal Negotiation Master Class Tomorrow Featuring Picture It Settled
December 2, 2013
Learn how to exploit lawyer predictability in mediation using concession planning. When: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 Time: 9:00 am Pacific/Noon Eastern Length: 60 minutes Cost: $49.99 What participant's say about these webinars: "I had an intense mediation yesterday, an employment case with a lot of hard feelings and an opposing attorney who lost her professional distance. Your latest webinar helped me prepare myself & the clients. But better still, it helped me help a very...
December 2, 2013
Learn how to exploit lawyer predictability in mediation using concession planning. When: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 Time: 9:00 am Pacific/Noon Eastern Length: 60 minutes Cost: $49.99 What participant's say about these webinars: "I had an intense mediation yesterday, an employment case with a lot of hard feelings and an opposing attorney who lost her professional distance. Your latest webinar helped me prepare myself & the clients. But better still, it helped me help a very...
Fifth Circuit Holds Procedural Questions for ICDR to Decide
December 2, 2013
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that procedural challenges to the selection of an arbitrator in an international dispute must be determined by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”). In Adam Technologies International S.A. de C.V. v. Sutherland Global Services, Inc., No. 12-10760, (5th Cir., September 05, 2013), Sutherland Global Services, Inc. (“Sutherland”) sought arbitration in New York with Adam Technologies International S.A....
December 2, 2013
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that procedural challenges to the selection of an arbitrator in an international dispute must be determined by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”). In Adam Technologies International S.A. de C.V. v. Sutherland Global Services, Inc., No. 12-10760, (5th Cir., September 05, 2013), Sutherland Global Services, Inc. (“Sutherland”) sought arbitration in New York with Adam Technologies International S.A....
Judicial Attention to the Powers of Emergency Arbitrators
December 2, 2013
Is emergency arbitral relief granted by an emergency arbitrator inherently provisional, and therefore not final, and therefore beyond the powers of the emergency arbitrator insofar as the relief ordered would require a party to do something with irreversible consequences, and, finally, not capable of judicial recognition as an Award because of its necessarily provisional nature, being subject to modification by the regular arbitral tribunal in due course? This week’s answers are no, no, no, and no. (Yahoo!,...
December 2, 2013
Is emergency arbitral relief granted by an emergency arbitrator inherently provisional, and therefore not final, and therefore beyond the powers of the emergency arbitrator insofar as the relief ordered would require a party to do something with irreversible consequences, and, finally, not capable of judicial recognition as an Award because of its necessarily provisional nature, being subject to modification by the regular arbitral tribunal in due course? This week’s answers are no, no, no, and no. (Yahoo!,...
Is Limited-Scope Representation the Future for Firms?
December 1, 2013
In a concrete example of how Texas firms are heeding the concept of "customer is king," some lawyers are offering limited-scope representation—also known as unbundled legal services—to give clients pricing choices. "It's a legitimate option and maybe the future of where the legal profession is going," said Barbara Stroud, a lawyer at Stroud Mediation in Austin who offers limited-scope representation. "The industry has changed, with all the new technology and the way people communicate with...
December 1, 2013
In a concrete example of how Texas firms are heeding the concept of "customer is king," some lawyers are offering limited-scope representation—also known as unbundled legal services—to give clients pricing choices. "It's a legitimate option and maybe the future of where the legal profession is going," said Barbara Stroud, a lawyer at Stroud Mediation in Austin who offers limited-scope representation. "The industry has changed, with all the new technology and the way people communicate with...
2013 Law Department Metrics Benchmarking Survey
December 1, 2013
It's been a long, difficult few years for U.S. corporate legal departments. In the wake the financial crisis and the Great Recession, many general counsel had to make painful cuts to their ranks and tighten their purse strings. But that might just be over. In fact, the 2013 version of an annual survey from Corporate Counsel and affiliate ALM Legal Intelligence (ALI) indicates that many law departments have shifted gears successfully from recession mode to recovery mode, as certain benchmarks...
December 1, 2013
It's been a long, difficult few years for U.S. corporate legal departments. In the wake the financial crisis and the Great Recession, many general counsel had to make painful cuts to their ranks and tighten their purse strings. But that might just be over. In fact, the 2013 version of an annual survey from Corporate Counsel and affiliate ALM Legal Intelligence (ALI) indicates that many law departments have shifted gears successfully from recession mode to recovery mode, as certain benchmarks...
Mediating in Cases in Domestic Violence – Between a Rock and a Hard Place
December 1, 2013
In a one day survey of Domestic Violence Services provided in Ireland on this day last year (6 November 2012), the following statistics were recorded: 537 women and 311 children were accommodated and/or received support from a domestic violence service; 115 helpline calls were received from women; 117 women and 152 children were living in a refuge; 21 women could not be accommodated due to lack of space. (www.womensaid.ie). Separation and divorce can be the result of domestic violence, but also a trigger...
December 1, 2013
In a one day survey of Domestic Violence Services provided in Ireland on this day last year (6 November 2012), the following statistics were recorded: 537 women and 311 children were accommodated and/or received support from a domestic violence service; 115 helpline calls were received from women; 117 women and 152 children were living in a refuge; 21 women could not be accommodated due to lack of space. (www.womensaid.ie). Separation and divorce can be the result of domestic violence, but also a trigger...
Law.com Contributor Network to Use Forbes’ Software and Hosting
November 30, 2013
I recently blogged here about Law.com’s forthcoming launch of an extensive contributor network, with from 100 to 500 writers...
November 30, 2013
I recently blogged here about Law.com’s forthcoming launch of an extensive contributor network, with from 100 to 500 writers...
