Menu
Arbitration
Federal Arbitration Act & Federalism
January 4, 2018
Matthew James Stanford (University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Students) has posted Judicial Resistance: Mandatory Arbitration as Federal Commandeering on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Arbitration has become a popular way to resolve legal disputes. This is increasingly true in the employment and consumer protection arenas. Contract drafters insert clauses requiring arbitration into take-it-or-leave it agreements that parties seldom read, much less have an opportunity to negotiate,...
January 4, 2018
Matthew James Stanford (University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Students) has posted Judicial Resistance: Mandatory Arbitration as Federal Commandeering on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Arbitration has become a popular way to resolve legal disputes. This is increasingly true in the employment and consumer protection arenas. Contract drafters insert clauses requiring arbitration into take-it-or-leave it agreements that parties seldom read, much less have an opportunity to negotiate,...
User Concerns About Reinsurance Arbitration – And Attendant Lessons for Selection of Dispute Resolution Forums and Methods
January 4, 2018
Jeffrey W. Stempel, Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law, has published “Notes from a Quiet Corner: User Concerns About Reinsurance Arbitration – And Attendant Lessons for Selection of Dispute Resolution Forums and Methods,” 9 Arbitration Law Review 93 (2017). In his article, Professor Stempel discusses perceived shortcomings and possible solutions related to the reinsurance arbitration process. The abstract...
January 4, 2018
Jeffrey W. Stempel, Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law, has published “Notes from a Quiet Corner: User Concerns About Reinsurance Arbitration – And Attendant Lessons for Selection of Dispute Resolution Forums and Methods,” 9 Arbitration Law Review 93 (2017). In his article, Professor Stempel discusses perceived shortcomings and possible solutions related to the reinsurance arbitration process. The abstract...
New Petition Asks SCOTX to Consider Whether Arbitrator Exceeded His Authority
January 3, 2018
A hospital has asked the Supreme Court of Texas to consider whether an arbitrator exceeded his authority in a workplace discrimination dispute. In Methodist Healthcare System, Ltd., LLP v. Friesenhahn, No. 17-0955, a woman, Friesenhahn, was terminated by her employer, Methodist Healthcare Systems, for purportedly violating a workplace policy. After she was fired, Friesenhahn accused her former employer of both age and gender discrimination. Following arbitration proceedings regarding the alleged...
January 3, 2018
A hospital has asked the Supreme Court of Texas to consider whether an arbitrator exceeded his authority in a workplace discrimination dispute. In Methodist Healthcare System, Ltd., LLP v. Friesenhahn, No. 17-0955, a woman, Friesenhahn, was terminated by her employer, Methodist Healthcare Systems, for purportedly violating a workplace policy. After she was fired, Friesenhahn accused her former employer of both age and gender discrimination. Following arbitration proceedings regarding the alleged...
Metrics on Arbitration Efficiency
December 19, 2017
The current issue of New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer — really a very good publication of the New York State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section — includes a brief article by Roy Weinstein of the economic research and consulting firm Micronomics. The article summarizes certain findings of a study comparing the length of time to trial and through appeal in U.S. federal courts, to the length of time to issuance of final awards in commercial arbitrations at the American Arbitration...
December 19, 2017
The current issue of New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer — really a very good publication of the New York State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section — includes a brief article by Roy Weinstein of the economic research and consulting firm Micronomics. The article summarizes certain findings of a study comparing the length of time to trial and through appeal in U.S. federal courts, to the length of time to issuance of final awards in commercial arbitrations at the American Arbitration...
The Ten Arbitration Trends of 2017
December 18, 2017
2017 was a big year in arbitration law. We went from a country that seemed on the verge of banning arbitration in most consumer and employee contracts to a country whose federal policy embraces arbitration in nearly every context. From my vantage point, here are the ten top developments in the last twelve months: Regulation Reversal. At the end of 2016, federal agencies were proposing rules to ban arbitration in various settings (student loans, nursing home agreements, consumer financial...
December 18, 2017
2017 was a big year in arbitration law. We went from a country that seemed on the verge of banning arbitration in most consumer and employee contracts to a country whose federal policy embraces arbitration in nearly every context. From my vantage point, here are the ten top developments in the last twelve months: Regulation Reversal. At the end of 2016, federal agencies were proposing rules to ban arbitration in various settings (student loans, nursing home agreements, consumer financial...
One-Sided Arbitration Clause Unconscionable
December 11, 2017
A recent case out of California, Diaz v. Hutchinson Aerospace & Industry, Inc., B271563, has a nice, organized unconscionability analysis that leads to finding an arbitration clause unenforceable. The case concerns an employment agreement signed by Diaz with his employer Hutchinson. The employment contract was indisputably an adhesion contract, because it was distributed pre-printed to employees with no opportunity to negotiate. That does carry some degree of procedural unconscionability...
December 11, 2017
A recent case out of California, Diaz v. Hutchinson Aerospace & Industry, Inc., B271563, has a nice, organized unconscionability analysis that leads to finding an arbitration clause unenforceable. The case concerns an employment agreement signed by Diaz with his employer Hutchinson. The employment contract was indisputably an adhesion contract, because it was distributed pre-printed to employees with no opportunity to negotiate. That does carry some degree of procedural unconscionability...
Anti-Suit Injunctions in Judicial and Arbitral Procedures in the United States
December 6, 2017
S.I. Strong, Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law, has published “Anti-Suit Injunctions in Judicial and Arbitral Procedures in the United States,” 66 American Journal of Comparative Law __ (Forthcoming); University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2017-25. In her journal article, Professor Strong analyzes when the exceptional remedy of anti-suit injunctions may be appropriate in the context of judicial and arbitration...
December 6, 2017
S.I. Strong, Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law, has published “Anti-Suit Injunctions in Judicial and Arbitral Procedures in the United States,” 66 American Journal of Comparative Law __ (Forthcoming); University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2017-25. In her journal article, Professor Strong analyzes when the exceptional remedy of anti-suit injunctions may be appropriate in the context of judicial and arbitration...
Kentucky Supreme Court Revisits Nursing Home Arbitration Case Overturned by SCOTUS
December 5, 2017
In May, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Supreme Court of Kentucky’s decision in Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership v. Clark, No. 16-32, (May 15, 2017). As described in another Disputing blog post, the lawsuit: …initially consisted of three separate cases where a family member who held the power of attorney for an individual who was being admitted to a Kentucky nursing home signed a pre-dispute binding arbitration agreement as part of the admission documents. ...
December 5, 2017
In May, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Supreme Court of Kentucky’s decision in Kindred Nursing Centers Limited Partnership v. Clark, No. 16-32, (May 15, 2017). As described in another Disputing blog post, the lawsuit: …initially consisted of three separate cases where a family member who held the power of attorney for an individual who was being admitted to a Kentucky nursing home signed a pre-dispute binding arbitration agreement as part of the admission documents. ...
Hylton on Deterrence and Aggregate Litigation
December 4, 2017
Keith Hylton has posted to SSRN Deterrence and Aggregate Litigation. The abstract provides: This paper examines the deterrence...
December 4, 2017
Keith Hylton has posted to SSRN Deterrence and Aggregate Litigation. The abstract provides: This paper examines the deterrence...
Eleventh Circuit Acknowledges Role for State Arbitration Laws
December 1, 2017
The Eleventh Circuit recently issued an opinion dealing with vacatur of an arbitration award. Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. v. Jakks Pacific, Inc., No. 17-11513 (11th Cir. Nov. 17, 2017) (click here for a copy of the decision). The case involved the owner of the Cabbage Patch brand of toys and a licensee who was authorized to manufacture and distribute the toys for a limited time period on an exclusive basis. A few months before this exclusive license expired, the owner began negotiating...
December 1, 2017
The Eleventh Circuit recently issued an opinion dealing with vacatur of an arbitration award. Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. v. Jakks Pacific, Inc., No. 17-11513 (11th Cir. Nov. 17, 2017) (click here for a copy of the decision). The case involved the owner of the Cabbage Patch brand of toys and a licensee who was authorized to manufacture and distribute the toys for a limited time period on an exclusive basis. A few months before this exclusive license expired, the owner began negotiating...
