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Arbitration
Contextual Analysis in Arbitration
October 4, 2018
Pat K. Chew, Judge Quint A. Salmon and Anne Salmon Chaired Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, has published “Contextual Analysis in Arbitration,” SMU Law Review, Vol. 70, p. 837, 2017; U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-28. In her journal article, Professor Chew examines the potential advantages one party may have over the other in two distinct areas of arbitration. The abstract states: The arbitration process is embedded in a much...
October 4, 2018
Pat K. Chew, Judge Quint A. Salmon and Anne Salmon Chaired Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, has published “Contextual Analysis in Arbitration,” SMU Law Review, Vol. 70, p. 837, 2017; U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-28. In her journal article, Professor Chew examines the potential advantages one party may have over the other in two distinct areas of arbitration. The abstract states: The arbitration process is embedded in a much...
Article on Arbitration Contracts Between Trustees and Their Investment Agents: a Warning Label
October 3, 2018
Charles E. Rounds, Jr. recently published an Article entitled, Arbitration Contracts Between Trustees and Their Investment...
October 3, 2018
Charles E. Rounds, Jr. recently published an Article entitled, Arbitration Contracts Between Trustees and Their Investment...
Time-on-the-Risk Allocation: Are Periods when Coverage is Unavailable in the Market Part of the Time-on-the-Risk?
October 2, 2018
We’ve discussed various issues concerning the allocation of asbestos or hazardous waste claims by insurers or cedents in situations where losses occur in multiple policy periods over time. (See here, here, & here.) Issues relating to allocation of such claims have, for many years, arisen in both insurance coverage cases and reinsurance litigation and arbitration, and they still do. Earlier this year in Keyspan Gas East Corp. v. Munich Reins. Am., Inc., ___ N.Y.3d ___, N.Y. Slip Op. 2116...
October 2, 2018
We’ve discussed various issues concerning the allocation of asbestos or hazardous waste claims by insurers or cedents in situations where losses occur in multiple policy periods over time. (See here, here, & here.) Issues relating to allocation of such claims have, for many years, arisen in both insurance coverage cases and reinsurance litigation and arbitration, and they still do. Earlier this year in Keyspan Gas East Corp. v. Munich Reins. Am., Inc., ___ N.Y.3d ___, N.Y. Slip Op. 2116...
Circuit Split Deepens Over Whether Arbitrators Should Decide Availability of Class Action
October 2, 2018
Today’s post concerns a perennially hot topic: class actions. In particular, do courts decide whether an arbitration...
October 2, 2018
Today’s post concerns a perennially hot topic: class actions. In particular, do courts decide whether an arbitration...
ND Texas in Dallas Confirms $141 Million Arbitration Award in Software Dispute
October 1, 2018
The Northern District of Texas has accepted the findings and recommendations of a magistrate judge and confirmed an arbitration award of more than $141 million in a software licensing dispute. In Kemper Corp. Svcs., Inc. v. Computer Sciences Corp. and DXC Tech. Co., No. 3:17-CV-2769-S (N.D. Tex., September 18, 2018), an insurance company, Kemper, entered into a multi-year contract to license software from Computer Sciences Corporation (“CSC”) in 2009. As part of the contract, CSC agreed...
October 1, 2018
The Northern District of Texas has accepted the findings and recommendations of a magistrate judge and confirmed an arbitration award of more than $141 million in a software licensing dispute. In Kemper Corp. Svcs., Inc. v. Computer Sciences Corp. and DXC Tech. Co., No. 3:17-CV-2769-S (N.D. Tex., September 18, 2018), an insurance company, Kemper, entered into a multi-year contract to license software from Computer Sciences Corporation (“CSC”) in 2009. As part of the contract, CSC agreed...
California Supreme Court Addresses Public Policy/Illegality Defense to Arbitration
September 28, 2018
Like federal law, California state arbitration law generally recognizes the separability doctrine, whereby arbitration clauses are viewed as separate from the rest of a contract and not necessarily impacted by defects in the larger contract containing the arbitration clause. For example, general allegations of fraudulent inducement with respect to the larger contract do not invalidate the obligation to arbitrate and are decided by an arbitrator. It’s as if the arbitration clause has some immunity,...
September 28, 2018
Like federal law, California state arbitration law generally recognizes the separability doctrine, whereby arbitration clauses are viewed as separate from the rest of a contract and not necessarily impacted by defects in the larger contract containing the arbitration clause. For example, general allegations of fraudulent inducement with respect to the larger contract do not invalidate the obligation to arbitrate and are decided by an arbitrator. It’s as if the arbitration clause has some immunity,...
Court Rules Uber Can Force Drivers Into Arbitration Over Pay, Benefits
September 26, 2018
Uber drivers hoping to be treated as employees may have to go it alone. A federal appeals court in San Francisco has overturned a ruling that would have allowed drivers to pursue their case as a class action lawsuit instead of going through individual arbitration (which, historically, favors companies over complainants). Judge Richard Clifton cited precedent as the reason, including both another ruling in favor of Uber from 2016 as well as a Supreme Court decision from May that said companies could...
September 26, 2018
Uber drivers hoping to be treated as employees may have to go it alone. A federal appeals court in San Francisco has overturned a ruling that would have allowed drivers to pursue their case as a class action lawsuit instead of going through individual arbitration (which, historically, favors companies over complainants). Judge Richard Clifton cited precedent as the reason, including both another ruling in favor of Uber from 2016 as well as a Supreme Court decision from May that said companies could...
Which Awards Were Entitled To A Summer Vacation?
September 26, 2018
I have saved up six opinions that considered whether to vacate an arbitration award over the summer.* Only one of those...
September 26, 2018
I have saved up six opinions that considered whether to vacate an arbitration award over the summer.* Only one of those...
No Proof Blind Plaintiffs Aware Of Arbitration Clause, So Discrimination Class Action Proceeds In Court
September 21, 2018
The First Circuit just faced a fascinating formation issue: if a customer cannot see what she is signing, and no employee reads it to her or ensures she knows there are legal terms, is there a contract? With Justice Souter sitting by designation on the panel, the court answered “no,” and thereby kept a class action in the courts. National Federation of the Blind v. The Container Store, Inc., 2018 WL 4378174 (1st Cir. Sept. 14, 2018). The Container Store case involves blind plaintiffs who allege...
September 21, 2018
The First Circuit just faced a fascinating formation issue: if a customer cannot see what she is signing, and no employee reads it to her or ensures she knows there are legal terms, is there a contract? With Justice Souter sitting by designation on the panel, the court answered “no,” and thereby kept a class action in the courts. National Federation of the Blind v. The Container Store, Inc., 2018 WL 4378174 (1st Cir. Sept. 14, 2018). The Container Store case involves blind plaintiffs who allege...
Million Dollar Arbitration Award For Attorneys Vacated Due To Ethical Violation
September 20, 2018
In today’s post I recount an epic battle between the Rules of Professional Conduct (tagline: saving clients from unscrupulous lawyers for over 100 years!) and the Uniform Arbitration Act (tagline: saving arbitration from hostile judges for 60 years!) in the Supreme Court of California. Spoiler alert: the Rules of Professional Conduct win. The story in Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP v. J-M Manufacturing Co.,2018 WL 4137103 (Cal. Aug. 30, 2018), begins with a “large law firm”...
September 20, 2018
In today’s post I recount an epic battle between the Rules of Professional Conduct (tagline: saving clients from unscrupulous lawyers for over 100 years!) and the Uniform Arbitration Act (tagline: saving arbitration from hostile judges for 60 years!) in the Supreme Court of California. Spoiler alert: the Rules of Professional Conduct win. The story in Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP v. J-M Manufacturing Co.,2018 WL 4137103 (Cal. Aug. 30, 2018), begins with a “large law firm”...
