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Fort Worth Appeals Court Holds Insurance Company is Estopped from Forcing Arbitration
March 14, 2013
In an interlocutory appeal, Texas’ 2nd District Appeals Court has affirmed a trial court’s order denying arbitration. In New Hampshire Insurance Co. v. Magellan Reinsurance Company Ltd., No. 02-12-00196-CV (Tex.App.–Fort Worth, 2013), New Hampshire Insurance and Magellan Reinsurance Company entered into a reinsurance agreement where a trust account was set up to perfect payment. As part of the reinsurance agreement, the two companies agreed to arbitrate all disputes related to the interpretation...
March 14, 2013
In an interlocutory appeal, Texas’ 2nd District Appeals Court has affirmed a trial court’s order denying arbitration. In New Hampshire Insurance Co. v. Magellan Reinsurance Company Ltd., No. 02-12-00196-CV (Tex.App.–Fort Worth, 2013), New Hampshire Insurance and Magellan Reinsurance Company entered into a reinsurance agreement where a trust account was set up to perfect payment. As part of the reinsurance agreement, the two companies agreed to arbitrate all disputes related to the interpretation...
Non-Signatories Lose In Two Federal Circuits When Trying To Enforce Arbitration
March 14, 2013
Two federal circuit courts recently reversed district court decisions allowing non-signatories to compel arbitration. The analysis emphasizes that for a defendant to prove equitable estoppel compels arbitration, the plaintiff’s legal claims must be closely related to the contract containing the arbitration clause. Retail grocers asserted antitrust claims against wholesalers in In re Wholesale Grocery Products Antitrust Litig., ___ F.3d __, 2013 WL 514758 (8th Cir. Feb. 13, 2013). The plaintiffs...
March 14, 2013
Two federal circuit courts recently reversed district court decisions allowing non-signatories to compel arbitration. The analysis emphasizes that for a defendant to prove equitable estoppel compels arbitration, the plaintiff’s legal claims must be closely related to the contract containing the arbitration clause. Retail grocers asserted antitrust claims against wholesalers in In re Wholesale Grocery Products Antitrust Litig., ___ F.3d __, 2013 WL 514758 (8th Cir. Feb. 13, 2013). The plaintiffs...
Georgetown’s Report on the State of the Legal Market for 2013
March 13, 2013
Not good news (not surprising), and definitely worth reading.  It comes pretty squarely down in favor of Bill Henderson's longstanding hypothesis that the changes afoot are structural not cyclical.
March 13, 2013
Not good news (not surprising), and definitely worth reading.  It comes pretty squarely down in favor of Bill Henderson's longstanding hypothesis that the changes afoot are structural not cyclical.
$800 an hour rates and a shift noted toward larger and larger law firms
March 13, 2013
Aric Press writes in the Jan. 2013 American Lawyer at 134 about an analysis he did of law firm billing data from 37 substantial companies. CT TyMetrix provided the data and Aric explored various findings, such as total hours billed over a three year period and total external spending. One finding that struck me was that $800-an-hour-and-up billings accounted for 179,768 hours during the first two quarters of 2012 out of a total of 2,796,077 hours. That means a bit more than six percent of all the hours...
March 13, 2013
Aric Press writes in the Jan. 2013 American Lawyer at 134 about an analysis he did of law firm billing data from 37 substantial companies. CT TyMetrix provided the data and Aric explored various findings, such as total hours billed over a three year period and total external spending. One finding that struck me was that $800-an-hour-and-up billings accounted for 179,768 hours during the first two quarters of 2012 out of a total of 2,796,077 hours. That means a bit more than six percent of all the hours...
Fifth Circuit Affirms Constitutionality of Non-Economic Damage Caps
March 13, 2013
We've just learned, thanks to a head's up from Skadden's Elliott Davis, that the Fifth Circuit today affirmed the constitutionality...
March 13, 2013
We've just learned, thanks to a head's up from Skadden's Elliott Davis, that the Fifth Circuit today affirmed the constitutionality...
Judiciary Reports on Caseload and Activities Released
March 13, 2013
Detailed reports on the fiscal year 2012 caseload of the federal courts and on the activities of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts were released today. Judicial Business of the United States Courts shows a slight shift in caseload in Fiscal Year 2012, the 12-month period ended September 30, 2012. The number of appeals in the federal courts rose 4 percent, while filings in the district courts and bankruptcy courts fell 5 percent and 14 percent, respectively. The number of persons...
March 13, 2013
Detailed reports on the fiscal year 2012 caseload of the federal courts and on the activities of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts were released today. Judicial Business of the United States Courts shows a slight shift in caseload in Fiscal Year 2012, the 12-month period ended September 30, 2012. The number of appeals in the federal courts rose 4 percent, while filings in the district courts and bankruptcy courts fell 5 percent and 14 percent, respectively. The number of persons...
Recent Supreme Court Arbitration Rulings Affect Employment Class Action Arbitrations
March 13, 2013
Professor Kristen Blankley (University of Nebraska College of Law) has posted Recent Supreme Court Arbitration Rulings Affect Employment and Class Action Arbitrations on SSN. It is a short article discussing recent class action arbitration and employment arbitration cases. You may download the article (for free) here.
March 13, 2013
Professor Kristen Blankley (University of Nebraska College of Law) has posted Recent Supreme Court Arbitration Rulings Affect Employment and Class Action Arbitrations on SSN. It is a short article discussing recent class action arbitration and employment arbitration cases. You may download the article (for free) here.
SCOTUS Hears Oral Argument in Arbitration Class Action Waiver Case
March 13, 2013
The Supreme Court of the United States yesterday heard oral argument in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (Case No. 12-133), in which the Court will decide the following issue: Whether the Federal Arbitration Act permits courts, invoking the federal substantive law of arbitrability, to invalidate arbitration agreements on the ground that they do not permit class arbitration of a federal-law claim. The Second Circuit's opinion in In re American Express III 667 F.3d 204 (2d Cir....
March 13, 2013
The Supreme Court of the United States yesterday heard oral argument in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (Case No. 12-133), in which the Court will decide the following issue: Whether the Federal Arbitration Act permits courts, invoking the federal substantive law of arbitrability, to invalidate arbitration agreements on the ground that they do not permit class arbitration of a federal-law claim. The Second Circuit's opinion in In re American Express III 667 F.3d 204 (2d Cir....
What Is The Most Important Element Of Legal Analysis?
March 12, 2013
I'm still on my SSRN kick for whatever reason, deep diving into obscure law review articles whose totals reads don't amount to one days traffic on Associate's Mind. It's a shame really as there are some worthwhile articles crammed in with the likes of Harry Potter and the Law or whatever. Of course, the other problem is that the authors are publishing articles in Law Reviews - which no one reads. Far better to submit an article to a blog (or set up your own), if you really want to reach people, but I gather...
March 12, 2013
I'm still on my SSRN kick for whatever reason, deep diving into obscure law review articles whose totals reads don't amount to one days traffic on Associate's Mind. It's a shame really as there are some worthwhile articles crammed in with the likes of Harry Potter and the Law or whatever. Of course, the other problem is that the authors are publishing articles in Law Reviews - which no one reads. Far better to submit an article to a blog (or set up your own), if you really want to reach people, but I gather...
Federal Judiciary Braces for Broad Impact of Budget Sequestration
March 12, 2013
Stating that sequestration has put the federal Judiciary "in uncharted territory," a federal judge told the Judicial Conference today that "we face a budget crisis that is unprecedented, one that is not likely to end in the near-term." "We believe we have done all we can to minimize the impact of sequestration, but a cut of this magnitude, particularly so late in the fiscal year, will affect every facet of court operations," Judge Julia Gibbons, chair of the Conference’s Budget Committee, told...
March 12, 2013
Stating that sequestration has put the federal Judiciary "in uncharted territory," a federal judge told the Judicial Conference today that "we face a budget crisis that is unprecedented, one that is not likely to end in the near-term." "We believe we have done all we can to minimize the impact of sequestration, but a cut of this magnitude, particularly so late in the fiscal year, will affect every facet of court operations," Judge Julia Gibbons, chair of the Conference’s Budget Committee, told...
