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Arbitration
Deference to Arbitrators Is All The Rage Among Supreme Courts This Winter
May 6, 2014
You may have already heard that SCOTUS affirmed arbitrators’ authority to interpret contractual prerequisites to arbitration last week in BG Group, PLC v. Republic of Argentina. But that is just one of a number of recent decisions from high courts on the deference due arbitrators. In the BG Group case, the D.C. Circuit had vacated an arbitration award, finding the arbitration panel overstepped its authority by hearing the case before certain conditions precedent had been met. (My preview...
May 6, 2014
You may have already heard that SCOTUS affirmed arbitrators’ authority to interpret contractual prerequisites to arbitration last week in BG Group, PLC v. Republic of Argentina. But that is just one of a number of recent decisions from high courts on the deference due arbitrators. In the BG Group case, the D.C. Circuit had vacated an arbitration award, finding the arbitration panel overstepped its authority by hearing the case before certain conditions precedent had been met. (My preview...
Fifth Court Tosses Suit Against Lawyers, Arbitrator
May 2, 2014
In 2011, Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals vacated a $22 million arbitration award after finding that an arbitrator failed to disclose...
May 2, 2014
In 2011, Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals vacated a $22 million arbitration award after finding that an arbitrator failed to disclose...
Fifth Circuit Holds Issue of Arbitrability Must be Decided by an Arbitrator in Pharmacy Dispute
May 1, 2014
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ordered that a dispute between numerous independent pharmacies and CVS Caremark Corporation and three of the company’s related business entities (“CVS”) be submitted to arbitration. In Crawford Professional Drugs, et al. v. CVS Caremark Corp., et al., No. 12-60922 (5th Cir. April 4, 2014), 23 drugstores that participated in a pharmacy benefit-management network offered by CVS claim the corporation inappropriately used...
May 1, 2014
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ordered that a dispute between numerous independent pharmacies and CVS Caremark Corporation and three of the company’s related business entities (“CVS”) be submitted to arbitration. In Crawford Professional Drugs, et al. v. CVS Caremark Corp., et al., No. 12-60922 (5th Cir. April 4, 2014), 23 drugstores that participated in a pharmacy benefit-management network offered by CVS claim the corporation inappropriately used...
Contractual Waivers of Investment Arbitration: Wa(I)ve of the Future?
May 1, 2014
Professor S.I. Strong, Associate Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law has publishedContractual Waivers of Investment Arbitration: Wa(I)ve of the Future?, 29 ICSID Review-Foreign Investment Law Journal 2014, Forthcoming; University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-13. In her article, Professor Strong analyzes whether a contractual waiver of investment arbitration may be enforceable. Here is the abstract: In late 2013, the Republic of Colombia made...
May 1, 2014
Professor S.I. Strong, Associate Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law has publishedContractual Waivers of Investment Arbitration: Wa(I)ve of the Future?, 29 ICSID Review-Foreign Investment Law Journal 2014, Forthcoming; University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-13. In her article, Professor Strong analyzes whether a contractual waiver of investment arbitration may be enforceable. Here is the abstract: In late 2013, the Republic of Colombia made...
Fifth Circuit Refuses to Reconsider D.R. Horton v. NLRB Decision
April 29, 2014
Last Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to reconsider its December opinion in which the court stated a mandatory arbitration agreement that bars a group of employees from engaging in class arbitration does not violate federal labor law. In D.R. Horton v. NLRB, No. 12-60031 (5th Cir. Dec. 3, 2013), a divided appeals court reversed the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision that the compulsory agreement violated the workers’ right to collective...
April 29, 2014
Last Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to reconsider its December opinion in which the court stated a mandatory arbitration agreement that bars a group of employees from engaging in class arbitration does not violate federal labor law. In D.R. Horton v. NLRB, No. 12-60031 (5th Cir. Dec. 3, 2013), a divided appeals court reversed the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision that the compulsory agreement violated the workers’ right to collective...
Three Lessons on Appealing from Arbitrations
April 29, 2014
Three decisions came out recently that offer guidance on appealing from arbitration awards. Here are three pearls of arbitration...
April 29, 2014
Three decisions came out recently that offer guidance on appealing from arbitration awards. Here are three pearls of arbitration...
Some Thoughts On General Mills’ Move To Mandate Arbitration And Waive Class Actions
April 29, 2014
Class action waivers are undergoing a renaissance following the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Wal-Mart v. Dukes and AT&T v. Concepcion. With the green light from the Supreme Court, more companies are adopting class action waivers in a wider range of circumstances. What’s unusual about General Mills’ move is that we haven’t seen such a broad-based waiver from a consumer packaged goods company. Most consumer packaged goods companies don’t have a direct relationship with their...
April 29, 2014
Class action waivers are undergoing a renaissance following the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Wal-Mart v. Dukes and AT&T v. Concepcion. With the green light from the Supreme Court, more companies are adopting class action waivers in a wider range of circumstances. What’s unusual about General Mills’ move is that we haven’t seen such a broad-based waiver from a consumer packaged goods company. Most consumer packaged goods companies don’t have a direct relationship with their...
The Role of Arbitrators as Ethics Enforcers
April 25, 2014
Kristen Blankley, Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law, has published Lying, Stealing, and Cheating: The Role of Arbitrators as Ethics Enforcers, University of Louisville Law Review, Vol. 52, No. 442, 2014. In the article, Professor Blankley continues her examination of ethics in arbitration. Here is the abstract: This work is the third in a trilogy of Articles in the area of ethics for arbitration participants. This work completes the trilogy by considering...
April 25, 2014
Kristen Blankley, Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law, has published Lying, Stealing, and Cheating: The Role of Arbitrators as Ethics Enforcers, University of Louisville Law Review, Vol. 52, No. 442, 2014. In the article, Professor Blankley continues her examination of ethics in arbitration. Here is the abstract: This work is the third in a trilogy of Articles in the area of ethics for arbitration participants. This work completes the trilogy by considering...
Crowd Arbitration: Crowdsourced Dispute Resolution Part V
April 24, 2014
Some forms of crowdsourced dispute resolution currently exist online. These dispute resolution processes can be put into three general categories: Opinion polls, online mock juries, and privately enforced crowdsourced dispute resolution. See Jaap van den Herik & Daniel V. Dimov, Towards Crowdsourced Online Dispute Resolution, International Association of IT Lawyers (IAITL) 244-257 (September 19, 2011),ssrn.com/abstract=1933392. Opinion polls are found informally across the Internet. Many...
April 24, 2014
Some forms of crowdsourced dispute resolution currently exist online. These dispute resolution processes can be put into three general categories: Opinion polls, online mock juries, and privately enforced crowdsourced dispute resolution. See Jaap van den Herik & Daniel V. Dimov, Towards Crowdsourced Online Dispute Resolution, International Association of IT Lawyers (IAITL) 244-257 (September 19, 2011),ssrn.com/abstract=1933392. Opinion polls are found informally across the Internet. Many...
Crowd Arbitration: Crowdsourced Dispute Resolution Part IV
April 24, 2014
Can crowd arbitration do justice? It depends, of course, on the definition of justice. According to H.L.A. Hart inThe Concept of Law, justice means having like cases being treated alike. H.L.A. HART, THE CONCEPT OF LAW (2nd ed., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994), Ch. VII. Only relevant differences should be considered when reaching a different result from another case. Id. Under this definition, crowd arbitration’s justness depends on the consistency of the community in similar cases. Because...
April 24, 2014
Can crowd arbitration do justice? It depends, of course, on the definition of justice. According to H.L.A. Hart inThe Concept of Law, justice means having like cases being treated alike. H.L.A. HART, THE CONCEPT OF LAW (2nd ed., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994), Ch. VII. Only relevant differences should be considered when reaching a different result from another case. Id. Under this definition, crowd arbitration’s justness depends on the consistency of the community in similar cases. Because...
