Arbitration
Texas’ Fourth Court of Appeals Orders Local Firefighters to Arbitrate Benefits Dispute With City of San Antonio
November 4, 2013
Texas’ Fourth District in San Antonio has held that an arbitration provision included in a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) requires a local firefighter’s union to engage in arbitration over a health insurance benefits dispute. In The City of San Antonio v. International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 624, No. 04-CV-00783-CV (October 2, 2013), the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 624 (the “Union”) filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio on behalf...
November 4, 2013
Texas’ Fourth District in San Antonio has held that an arbitration provision included in a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) requires a local firefighter’s union to engage in arbitration over a health insurance benefits dispute. In The City of San Antonio v. International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 624, No. 04-CV-00783-CV (October 2, 2013), the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 624 (the “Union”) filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio on behalf...
Small Business B-2-B Arbitration Part II.B: How Arbitration Agreements Work
November 4, 2013
If you’ve followed this series from inception you already know that the decision to agree to arbitrate disputes arising out of a transaction, and if so, under what terms, can be as important as any other decision a business must make about price and performance terms. Armed with sufficient knowledge about how arbitration and arbitration-law works, business people and their lawyers can make better-informed choices about arbitration, including whether seeking advice from an attorney with arbitration...
November 4, 2013
If you’ve followed this series from inception you already know that the decision to agree to arbitrate disputes arising out of a transaction, and if so, under what terms, can be as important as any other decision a business must make about price and performance terms. Armed with sufficient knowledge about how arbitration and arbitration-law works, business people and their lawyers can make better-informed choices about arbitration, including whether seeking advice from an attorney with arbitration...
FINRA Considering Whether Firms Should be Required to Carry Insurance to Pay Arbitration Awards
November 1, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) is reportedly considering whether to require brokerage firms to purchase and maintain errors and omissions insurance policies that would be used to pay investors following arbitration. According to the organization’s Executive Vice President of Regulatory Operations, Susan Axelrod, many investment firms never pay arbitration awards and other legal claims issued to investors. Instead, the companies often close down – leaving claimants...
November 1, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) is reportedly considering whether to require brokerage firms to purchase and maintain errors and omissions insurance policies that would be used to pay investors following arbitration. According to the organization’s Executive Vice President of Regulatory Operations, Susan Axelrod, many investment firms never pay arbitration awards and other legal claims issued to investors. Instead, the companies often close down – leaving claimants...
October 2013 Supreme Court Term Begins
October 31, 2013
The United States Supreme Court began its October 2013 term today. One of the cases the high court will consider this fall is BG Group PLC v. Republic of Argentina, Docket No. 12-138. In the case, the District of Columbia Circuit vacated an arbitral award that was issued as a result of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”) entered into between the United Kingdom and Argentina. The treaty itself provides that any disputes between a business investor and a host nation will be resolved in the host...
October 31, 2013
The United States Supreme Court began its October 2013 term today. One of the cases the high court will consider this fall is BG Group PLC v. Republic of Argentina, Docket No. 12-138. In the case, the District of Columbia Circuit vacated an arbitral award that was issued as a result of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”) entered into between the United Kingdom and Argentina. The treaty itself provides that any disputes between a business investor and a host nation will be resolved in the host...
Contrasting U.S. Litigation and International Arbitration
October 31, 2013
American litigators know that there is often a tortuous road between the filing of the complaint and trial. The parties’ positions, and how each side views the facts, tend to evolve through the initial pleadings, amended pleadings, motions to dismiss, documentary discovery, depositions, summary judgment motions, pretrial submissions, motions in limine, pretrial statements, trial briefs, and the course of trial itself. It is often not until after discovery is completed and summary judgment motions...
October 31, 2013
American litigators know that there is often a tortuous road between the filing of the complaint and trial. The parties’ positions, and how each side views the facts, tend to evolve through the initial pleadings, amended pleadings, motions to dismiss, documentary discovery, depositions, summary judgment motions, pretrial submissions, motions in limine, pretrial statements, trial briefs, and the course of trial itself. It is often not until after discovery is completed and summary judgment motions...
Public Courts as Private Arbitration Panels
October 31, 2013
Tom Stipanowich called the Delaware Court of Chancery’s arbitration program “a veritable trifecta of procedural advantages for commercial parties, including expert adjudication, efficient case management and short cycle time and, above all, a proceeding cloaked in secrecy.” But he warned that its constitutionality was in doubt. Now the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has, indeed, ruled it unconstitutional. The grounds for the ruling go to some of the most profound assumptions of access...
October 31, 2013
Tom Stipanowich called the Delaware Court of Chancery’s arbitration program “a veritable trifecta of procedural advantages for commercial parties, including expert adjudication, efficient case management and short cycle time and, above all, a proceeding cloaked in secrecy.” But he warned that its constitutionality was in doubt. Now the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has, indeed, ruled it unconstitutional. The grounds for the ruling go to some of the most profound assumptions of access...
Courts Stopping Non-Signatories From Compelling Arbitration Through Equitable Estoppel
October 30, 2013
Now that we know the Supreme Court is not going to be addressing non-signatories’ ability to compel arbitration this term (at least not in the Toyota case), we can take a moment to look at what lower courts are doing with that issue. In short, the trend is for courts to clarify that it is very difficult for defendants who do not have an arbitration agreement with the plaintiff (non-signatories) to use equitable estoppel to compel arbitration of the plaintiff’s claims based on the plaintiff’s...
October 30, 2013
Now that we know the Supreme Court is not going to be addressing non-signatories’ ability to compel arbitration this term (at least not in the Toyota case), we can take a moment to look at what lower courts are doing with that issue. In short, the trend is for courts to clarify that it is very difficult for defendants who do not have an arbitration agreement with the plaintiff (non-signatories) to use equitable estoppel to compel arbitration of the plaintiff’s claims based on the plaintiff’s...
Two New US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Decisions
October 29, 2013
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit released two opinions yesterday of some interest. In Chavarria v. Ralphs Grocery Company (No. 11-56673, October 28, 2013), the Court of Appeals held that the arbitration provision in an employment agreement was unenforceable because it was “procedurally unconscionable because it was a condition of applying for employment and was presented on a “take it or leave it” basis. In addition, its terms were not provided to the plaintiff until three...
October 29, 2013
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit released two opinions yesterday of some interest. In Chavarria v. Ralphs Grocery Company (No. 11-56673, October 28, 2013), the Court of Appeals held that the arbitration provision in an employment agreement was unenforceable because it was “procedurally unconscionable because it was a condition of applying for employment and was presented on a “take it or leave it” basis. In addition, its terms were not provided to the plaintiff until three...
Arbitration for the Trial Lawyer
October 29, 2013
Sooner or later, every trial lawyer with a commercial practice will end up in an arbitration. Perhaps the most likely scenario is a contract dispute between parties that have agreed to mandatory arbitration with a specified alternative dispute resolution provider, most commonly the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Your client asks you to handle the matter, but you have no experience with arbitration. Not to worry—there is nothing in the process that a good trial lawyer isn’t fully equipped...
October 29, 2013
Sooner or later, every trial lawyer with a commercial practice will end up in an arbitration. Perhaps the most likely scenario is a contract dispute between parties that have agreed to mandatory arbitration with a specified alternative dispute resolution provider, most commonly the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Your client asks you to handle the matter, but you have no experience with arbitration. Not to worry—there is nothing in the process that a good trial lawyer isn’t fully equipped...
NY Court of Appeals Denies Effort to Compel Non-Signatory to Arbitrate on “Direct Benefits Estoppel” Theory
October 29, 2013
The highest court in the State of New York, the New York Court of Appeals, last week rejected an effort to compel a non-signatory respondent to arbitrate tax reimbursement claims on a theory of “direct benefits estoppel.” Given the commercial and financial importance of New York and the influence of the New York State courts, the case is of interest. The Court agreed that the “direct benefits estoppel” theory was available to bind non-signatories to arbitrate, but that the particular...
October 29, 2013
The highest court in the State of New York, the New York Court of Appeals, last week rejected an effort to compel a non-signatory respondent to arbitrate tax reimbursement claims on a theory of “direct benefits estoppel.” Given the commercial and financial importance of New York and the influence of the New York State courts, the case is of interest. The Court agreed that the “direct benefits estoppel” theory was available to bind non-signatories to arbitrate, but that the particular...
