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Arbitration
Enforcement of an International Arbitration Award in a Non-New York Convention Country
March 23, 2017
You presented your case, and the arbitration tribunal came back with a reasoned decision and an award in your favor. You even had the award confirmed here in the United States. You want to enforce it. But you find that the award-debtor’s assets are all held in or have been moved to a country that is not a party to the New York Convention. Now what? Enforcing a U.S.-sited international arbitral award in a foreign country is ordinarily far easier than enforcing a U.S. judgment abroad due to the adoption...
March 23, 2017
You presented your case, and the arbitration tribunal came back with a reasoned decision and an award in your favor. You even had the award confirmed here in the United States. You want to enforce it. But you find that the award-debtor’s assets are all held in or have been moved to a country that is not a party to the New York Convention. Now what? Enforcing a U.S.-sited international arbitral award in a foreign country is ordinarily far easier than enforcing a U.S. judgment abroad due to the adoption...
No Arbitration in Stanford Cases
March 22, 2017
The receiver of the Allen Stanford businesses sued several investors for receiving fraudulent conveyances. In earlier appeals, the Fifth Circuit resolved other thresehold issues in these cases; in Janvey v. Alguire, the Court reviewed the denials of the defendants’ motions to compel arbitration. It affirmed, rejecting their arguments based on arbitration clauses in various Stanford-related documents: “Because the Receiver may sue on behalf of any of the Stanford entities that has a claim against...
March 22, 2017
The receiver of the Allen Stanford businesses sued several investors for receiving fraudulent conveyances. In earlier appeals, the Fifth Circuit resolved other thresehold issues in these cases; in Janvey v. Alguire, the Court reviewed the denials of the defendants’ motions to compel arbitration. It affirmed, rejecting their arguments based on arbitration clauses in various Stanford-related documents: “Because the Receiver may sue on behalf of any of the Stanford entities that has a claim against...
Dallas COA Orders Arbitration Based on Electronic Signature and Click Through User Agreement
March 21, 2017
Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas has ordered a health care liability lawsuit to arbitration based on an online...
March 21, 2017
Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas has ordered a health care liability lawsuit to arbitration based on an online...
Texas’ Twelfth COA Holds Arbitration Agreement in Employer’s Workplace Injury Plan Does Not Bind Worker’s Spouse
March 15, 2017
Texas’ Twelfth District Court of Appeals in Tyler has ruled that a nonsignatory spouse may not be bound by an arbitration...
March 15, 2017
Texas’ Twelfth District Court of Appeals in Tyler has ruled that a nonsignatory spouse may not be bound by an arbitration...
SCOTUS Hearing Arbitration Case, Spotlight On State Cases
March 14, 2017
While the Supreme Court has put off hearing a more contentious arbitration case until the fall (presumably in hopes that it will have nine justices by then), tomorrow it will hear the nursing home arbitration case from Kentucky. I look forward to listening to the questions and trying to figure out why the Justices granted a review on the merits… Instead of repeating my analysis of the Kentucky case, here are some recent state court arbitration cases of interest (in addition to the three...
March 14, 2017
While the Supreme Court has put off hearing a more contentious arbitration case until the fall (presumably in hopes that it will have nine justices by then), tomorrow it will hear the nursing home arbitration case from Kentucky. I look forward to listening to the questions and trying to figure out why the Justices granted a review on the merits… Instead of repeating my analysis of the Kentucky case, here are some recent state court arbitration cases of interest (in addition to the three...
Does the Show Stop For Appeal After a Court Compels Arbitration? The Federal Circuit Courts Are Split
March 13, 2017
Under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq., if a District Court compels arbitration of all of the claims that are before it, and thereupon dismisses the suit, its order compelling arbitration is final and appealable; but if the District Court stays the suit, its order compelling arbitration is “non-final” and not immediately appealable. So what’s a right and proper court to do? The Federal Courts of Appeal are divided on the question of whether the FAA requires...
March 13, 2017
Under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq., if a District Court compels arbitration of all of the claims that are before it, and thereupon dismisses the suit, its order compelling arbitration is final and appealable; but if the District Court stays the suit, its order compelling arbitration is “non-final” and not immediately appealable. So what’s a right and proper court to do? The Federal Courts of Appeal are divided on the question of whether the FAA requires...
Kardashians Kept Out of Arbitration
March 10, 2017
Just three weeks into the year and already my pile of arbitration cases is a skyscraper! So, I will cover a lot of ground in this update. First, the headline. Kimberly, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian moved to compel arbitration, although they were not signatories to the arbitration agreement. Kroma Makeup EU v. Boldface Licensing + Branding, 2017 WL 192690 (11th Cir. Jan. 18, 2017). Despite their celebrity status, they lost in both the Florida district court and the 11th Circuit. The problem...
March 10, 2017
Just three weeks into the year and already my pile of arbitration cases is a skyscraper! So, I will cover a lot of ground in this update. First, the headline. Kimberly, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian moved to compel arbitration, although they were not signatories to the arbitration agreement. Kroma Makeup EU v. Boldface Licensing + Branding, 2017 WL 192690 (11th Cir. Jan. 18, 2017). Despite their celebrity status, they lost in both the Florida district court and the 11th Circuit. The problem...
10th Circuit Resolves One Arbitrability Circuit Split, But Creates Another
March 9, 2017
If you are a party that wants courts to rigidly enforce delegation clauses – sending questions about even the validity of the agreement to arbitration – then you will appreciate a new decision from the Tenth Circuit. In Belnap v. Iasis Healthcare, __ F.3d __, 2017 WL 56277 (10th Cir. Jan. 5, 2017), the court refused to do even a spot check of whether defendant’s claims of arbitrability were accurate and enforced the parties’ delegation clause. Belnap involved a surgeon suing a medical...
March 9, 2017
If you are a party that wants courts to rigidly enforce delegation clauses – sending questions about even the validity of the agreement to arbitration – then you will appreciate a new decision from the Tenth Circuit. In Belnap v. Iasis Healthcare, __ F.3d __, 2017 WL 56277 (10th Cir. Jan. 5, 2017), the court refused to do even a spot check of whether defendant’s claims of arbitrability were accurate and enforced the parties’ delegation clause. Belnap involved a surgeon suing a medical...
Two States Buck FAA Preemption, While Alabama Stays the Course
March 8, 2017
Three state supreme courts tackled arbitration law in recent weeks: Alabama, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Rhode Island reversed a construction arbitration award because it disagreed with the arbitrator’s analysis. North Carolina found that an arbitration agreement in a doctor-patient setting was unenforceable as a breach of the doctor’s fiduciary duty. And Alabama strictly enforced an arbitral venue, even though that precluded class action. Continuing its streak of hewing closely...
March 8, 2017
Three state supreme courts tackled arbitration law in recent weeks: Alabama, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Rhode Island reversed a construction arbitration award because it disagreed with the arbitrator’s analysis. North Carolina found that an arbitration agreement in a doctor-patient setting was unenforceable as a breach of the doctor’s fiduciary duty. And Alabama strictly enforced an arbitral venue, even though that precluded class action. Continuing its streak of hewing closely...
3 Class Actions, 3 Motions to Compel Arbitration, 1 Class Action Survives
March 7, 2017
The Ninth, Sixth, and Third Circuits all recently issued decisions about whether putative class or collective actions could...
March 7, 2017
The Ninth, Sixth, and Third Circuits all recently issued decisions about whether putative class or collective actions could...
