Judicial Analytics Company Gavelytics Expands with New Rulings Database and Arbitrator Archive
May 24, 2018

When last we wrote about judicial analytics company Gavelytics on March 13, it was announcing a $3.2 million funding round to support development of new features and expansion into additional jurisdictions. Today, the first two of these new features roll out — a rulings database and an arbitrator archive.   With today’s enhancements, Gavelytics adds two features: Trial court rulings. This databases includes thousands of Los Angeles trial court orders dating back to 2000....

Supreme Court Will Determine If Silence in an Arbitration Clause May Be Judicially Interpreted to Permit Class Arbitration
May 23, 2018

On April 30, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review an unpublished Ninth Circuit decision in Varela v. Lamps Plus, Inc., No. 16-56085 (9thCir. Aug. 3, 2017). See Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela (No. 17-988, U.S. Sup.). Lamps Plus framed the question presented to the Supreme Court as follows: “Whether the Federal Arbitration Act [“FAA”] forecloses a state-law interpretation of an arbitration agreement that would authorize class arbitration based solely on general language...

Opinion Analysis: Employers Prevail in Arbitration Case
May 23, 2018

In 1925, Congress passed the Federal Arbitration Act, which (among other things) provides that an agreement to arbitrate...

Justice Gorsuch Delivered . . . A Win For Class Arbitration Waivers
May 22, 2018

SCOTUS finally delivered its decision today in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the consolidated case that addresses whether...

U.S. Supreme Court Sides With Employers Over Class Arbitration Waivers
May 22, 2018

The United States Supreme Court has finally decided whether a collective action ban included in an employer’s arbitration...

Supreme Court Backs Federal Arbitration Act’s Power to Require Mandatory Individual Arbitration
May 21, 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning has affirmed the ability of companies to use mandatory arbitration clauses in employment...

SCOTUS: FAA Controls and Overrides NLRA
May 21, 2018

In each of these cases, an employer and employee entered into a contract providing for individualized arbitration proceedings to resolve employment disputes between the parties. Each employee nonetheless sought to litigate Fair Labor Standards Act and related state law claims through class or collective actions in federal court. Although the Federal Arbitration Act generally requires courts to enforce arbitration agreements as written, the employees argued that its “saving clause” removes this...

Must Your Dispute Be Arbitrated? You May Be Entitled to Discovery to Find Out
May 21, 2018

In a proceeding under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) to determine if a dispute must be arbitrated, a federal district...

Baseball Arbitration to Resolve International Law Disputes: Hit or Miss?
May 20, 2018

Joost Pauwelyn, Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland, Co-Director of the Institute’s Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI), and Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, has published “Baseball Arbitration to Resolve International Law Disputes: Hit or Miss?” Florida Tax Review, Vol. 22, 2018.  In his journal article, Professor Pauwelyn proposes...

SCOTX Upholds Arbitrator’s Award in Favor of Jefferson County Constables
May 17, 2018

Finally, the Supreme Court of Texas held the arbitrator did not exceed his authority when he issued an award against Jefferson County.  The court said: The County argues that the county commissioners court “eliminated” the deputy positions (along with their respective salaries) as part of its delegated legislative duty to create the county budget, and that the arbitrator effectively usurped that duty by ordering the deputies “reinstated” to a position that no longer exists. The County...