Blog Archives
Texas Maximum Child Support Cap Is Changing September 1, 2013
July 19, 2013
Currently, there is a cap in the monthly net resources used when calculating child support in Texas. The current child support cap in Texas is $7,500.00 net monthly resources per month. Depending on the number of children involved, the monthly net resources are then multiplied by a percentage for the number of children a parent has a duty to support as represented below. Beginning September 1, 2013, the cap in the monthly net resources used when calculating child support will be increased to $8,550.00...
July 19, 2013
Currently, there is a cap in the monthly net resources used when calculating child support in Texas. The current child support cap in Texas is $7,500.00 net monthly resources per month. Depending on the number of children involved, the monthly net resources are then multiplied by a percentage for the number of children a parent has a duty to support as represented below. Beginning September 1, 2013, the cap in the monthly net resources used when calculating child support will be increased to $8,550.00...
Regulating, Certifying, Creating Barriers to Entry….
July 19, 2013
The Spring 2013 issue of Dispute Resolution — the excellent publication of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section — is devoted to mediator criteria, qualifications, accreditation, regulation, and so on. The International Mediation Institute was founded with a mission to create standards for mediator professionalism. And in Prague a few weeks ago, the World Mediation Forum reported on astonishingly harsh regulations for those who offer themselves as mediators. A panel was offered featuring...
July 19, 2013
The Spring 2013 issue of Dispute Resolution — the excellent publication of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section — is devoted to mediator criteria, qualifications, accreditation, regulation, and so on. The International Mediation Institute was founded with a mission to create standards for mediator professionalism. And in Prague a few weeks ago, the World Mediation Forum reported on astonishingly harsh regulations for those who offer themselves as mediators. A panel was offered featuring...
SCOTUS Affirms Arbitrator’s Decision To Allow Class Arbitration in Sutter
July 19, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Sutter today, unanimously holding that as long as the arbitrator bases a decision to allow or disallow class arbitration on the text of the parties’ agreement, her “construction holds, however good, bad, or ugly.” Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. ___ (June 10, 2013). The case resolved a circuit split on how to interpret SCOTUS’ Stolt-Nielsen decision. It also proved me right (yahoo!). (I predicted the Court would affirm...
July 19, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Sutter today, unanimously holding that as long as the arbitrator bases a decision to allow or disallow class arbitration on the text of the parties’ agreement, her “construction holds, however good, bad, or ugly.” Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. ___ (June 10, 2013). The case resolved a circuit split on how to interpret SCOTUS’ Stolt-Nielsen decision. It also proved me right (yahoo!). (I predicted the Court would affirm...
In Quest of the Arbitration Trifecta, or Closed Door Litigation?
July 19, 2013
Pepperdine University School of Law Professor Thomas J. Stipanowich has published In Quest of the Arbitration Trifecta, or Closed Door Litigation?: The Delaware Arbitration Program, Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and the Law, Forthcoming; Pepperdine University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013/10. In his article, Professor Stipanowich examines the Delaware Arbitration Program. The unique and voluntary program was established and implemented in 2009 in order to settle disputes between...
July 19, 2013
Pepperdine University School of Law Professor Thomas J. Stipanowich has published In Quest of the Arbitration Trifecta, or Closed Door Litigation?: The Delaware Arbitration Program, Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and the Law, Forthcoming; Pepperdine University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013/10. In his article, Professor Stipanowich examines the Delaware Arbitration Program. The unique and voluntary program was established and implemented in 2009 in order to settle disputes between...
SEC Seeks Public Comment on Arbitrator Selection Rule Proposal
July 19, 2013
The SEC has published for public comment a rule change proposal filed by FINRA to alter the arbitrator selection method in three-arbitrator customer cases. Comments are due by July 11, 2013. Currently, customers must elect a panel composition method at the beginning of a case, with the default method being the Majority Public Panel option that results in one non-public (i.e. securities industry-affiliated) arbitrator sitting on a three-arbitrator panel. Currently , customers can opt out of that...
July 19, 2013
The SEC has published for public comment a rule change proposal filed by FINRA to alter the arbitrator selection method in three-arbitrator customer cases. Comments are due by July 11, 2013. Currently, customers must elect a panel composition method at the beginning of a case, with the default method being the Majority Public Panel option that results in one non-public (i.e. securities industry-affiliated) arbitrator sitting on a three-arbitrator panel. Currently , customers can opt out of that...
Teaching with Teaching a New Negotiation Skills Paradigm
July 18, 2013
I am in the process of thinking about the last year and what worked, or didn’t work, in my classes. As part of that process, I thought I would share one new approach I took this year that I thought worked very well in my negotiation class. This new approach is thanks to Andrea Schneider’s Teaching a New Negotiation Skills Paradigm, 39 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 13 (2012) or on SSRN. For those who haven’t yet read this article, Andrea recommends that when we teach negotiation we should...
July 18, 2013
I am in the process of thinking about the last year and what worked, or didn’t work, in my classes. As part of that process, I thought I would share one new approach I took this year that I thought worked very well in my negotiation class. This new approach is thanks to Andrea Schneider’s Teaching a New Negotiation Skills Paradigm, 39 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 13 (2012) or on SSRN. For those who haven’t yet read this article, Andrea recommends that when we teach negotiation we should...
Massachusetts Invalidates Arbitration Agreement Because Plaintiffs Could Not Effectively Pursue Small Value Claims
July 18, 2013
As we were waiting for SCOTUS’s decision in AmEx, we got a decision on vindicating statutory rights from a different high court: the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. In an opinion that could be a blueprint for other plaintiff-friendly states, the supremes in Massachusetts held that courts may invalidate arbitration agreements that preclude class actions if a plaintiff proves he or she “effectively cannot pursue a claim against the defendant in individual arbitration.” Feeney...
July 18, 2013
As we were waiting for SCOTUS’s decision in AmEx, we got a decision on vindicating statutory rights from a different high court: the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. In an opinion that could be a blueprint for other plaintiff-friendly states, the supremes in Massachusetts held that courts may invalidate arbitration agreements that preclude class actions if a plaintiff proves he or she “effectively cannot pursue a claim against the defendant in individual arbitration.” Feeney...
Empowering the Growth of International ADR
July 18, 2013
This is the final posting of a 3-part series. Previous posts in the series noted the gathering tempest being whipped up by opacity in ADR practice. How can structural change help the ship steer towards modernity? User demand for more information and higher professional standards in ADR is unequivocal. An international institution is needed to address the global user demand, particularly in arbitration, conciliation and similar methods of resolving international commercial disputes. That institution...
July 18, 2013
This is the final posting of a 3-part series. Previous posts in the series noted the gathering tempest being whipped up by opacity in ADR practice. How can structural change help the ship steer towards modernity? User demand for more information and higher professional standards in ADR is unequivocal. An international institution is needed to address the global user demand, particularly in arbitration, conciliation and similar methods of resolving international commercial disputes. That institution...
Empowering the Growth of International ADR: Cries for Change
July 18, 2013
Part 1 of this post touched on rumblings for more transparency in arbitration. But there is more than the distant sound of thunder, and it’s coming closer. As arbitration and mediation are both highly competitive and fragmented fields, it is hard for providers to act collectively. Yet they must. The only forums where arbitration organizations come together at an international level conferences of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) and the International...
July 18, 2013
Part 1 of this post touched on rumblings for more transparency in arbitration. But there is more than the distant sound of thunder, and it’s coming closer. As arbitration and mediation are both highly competitive and fragmented fields, it is hard for providers to act collectively. Yet they must. The only forums where arbitration organizations come together at an international level conferences of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) and the International...
Empowering the Growth of International ADR
July 18, 2013
In recent years, corporate users of ADR services have demanded greater transparency into the skills, experience and suitability of ADR providers and the adoption of stronger professional ethical standards and disciplinary processes. These calls are turning into dissatisfaction. The markets serving corporate client needs can, without great effort or cost, address the user demand quickly, effectively and economically worldwide. In May 2007, Michael McIlwrath of GE Oil & Gas published an article...
July 18, 2013
In recent years, corporate users of ADR services have demanded greater transparency into the skills, experience and suitability of ADR providers and the adoption of stronger professional ethical standards and disciplinary processes. These calls are turning into dissatisfaction. The markets serving corporate client needs can, without great effort or cost, address the user demand quickly, effectively and economically worldwide. In May 2007, Michael McIlwrath of GE Oil & Gas published an article...
