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Arbitration
Texas Supreme Court Changes Mind, Tackles Arbitration Appeal
January 10, 2017
The Texas Supreme Court has reversed course, deciding it will hear an energy company’s challenge to a $16 million arbitration award over drilling waste pollution on a South Texas ranch. The neutrality of an arbitrator and the panel’s jurisdiction over the dispute are among the issues raised by Forest Oil, which is now part of Houston’s Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation. The company sought a rehearing after the Supreme Court in May declined to review the arbitration. It’s the latest twist...
January 10, 2017
The Texas Supreme Court has reversed course, deciding it will hear an energy company’s challenge to a $16 million arbitration award over drilling waste pollution on a South Texas ranch. The neutrality of an arbitrator and the panel’s jurisdiction over the dispute are among the issues raised by Forest Oil, which is now part of Houston’s Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation. The company sought a rehearing after the Supreme Court in May declined to review the arbitration. It’s the latest twist...
Drafting Contract Provisions on Resolving Disputes
January 4, 2017
A partner in a major law firm tells me that for the next five years, we can expect much litigation and controversy over issues like mediation and arbitration and locations for such proceedings. In a recent article, Professor John M. Newman identifies the issues that these provisions should consider. The article remains neutral on the pros and cons. Here is an introductory passage: This is a brief guide to drafting dispute-resolution provisions. Such provisions have gained national attention in recent...
January 4, 2017
A partner in a major law firm tells me that for the next five years, we can expect much litigation and controversy over issues like mediation and arbitration and locations for such proceedings. In a recent article, Professor John M. Newman identifies the issues that these provisions should consider. The article remains neutral on the pros and cons. Here is an introductory passage: This is a brief guide to drafting dispute-resolution provisions. Such provisions have gained national attention in recent...
Article on Arbitration for Trust Disputes
January 2, 2017
Colin Connor published an Article entitled, Changing the Game: The Effects of the 2012 Revision of the ICC Arbitration Rules...
January 2, 2017
Colin Connor published an Article entitled, Changing the Game: The Effects of the 2012 Revision of the ICC Arbitration Rules...
Careful Pleadings and Responses: Responding to Issues Beyond Contractual Obligations to Arbitrate May Widen Arbitrator’s Scope of Issues to Resolve
December 23, 2016
An arbitration award that found no "meeting of the minds" and contract cancellation as to unperformed contract obligations was vacated by a federal district court for the Northern District of Texas on "exceeded powers" ground of 9 U.S.C. §20(a)(4). The Fifth Circuit reversed the trial court and instructed the court to confirm the award. The Fifth Circuit noted that if OMG did not believe the arbitrator had the authority to decide the meeting of the minds and contract formation issues, it should...
December 23, 2016
An arbitration award that found no "meeting of the minds" and contract cancellation as to unperformed contract obligations was vacated by a federal district court for the Northern District of Texas on "exceeded powers" ground of 9 U.S.C. §20(a)(4). The Fifth Circuit reversed the trial court and instructed the court to confirm the award. The Fifth Circuit noted that if OMG did not believe the arbitrator had the authority to decide the meeting of the minds and contract formation issues, it should...
Confidential Arbitration Agreements for High-Profile Clients and Senior Executives
December 20, 2016
Arbitration agreements are commonplace today. It is difficult to obtain a credit card, sign up for cellular phone service, or purchase goods online without agreeing to arbitrate all disputes that arise from such transactions. Consumer advocates bemoan this development whereby citizens are required to abandon their right to go to court in favor of a system of “private justice.” Mandatory arbitration, they argue, deprives plaintiffs alleging common injury from pursuing their claims through more...
December 20, 2016
Arbitration agreements are commonplace today. It is difficult to obtain a credit card, sign up for cellular phone service, or purchase goods online without agreeing to arbitrate all disputes that arise from such transactions. Consumer advocates bemoan this development whereby citizens are required to abandon their right to go to court in favor of a system of “private justice.” Mandatory arbitration, they argue, deprives plaintiffs alleging common injury from pursuing their claims through more...
5th Circuit Overturns NLRB Yet Again in Class Arbitration Waiver Case
December 19, 2016
The nation’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB) decision directing...
December 19, 2016
The nation’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB) decision directing...
Inside the Arbitrator’s Mind
December 19, 2016
Apropos of our recent focus on arbitrators, a new article recently appreared on SSRN, Inside the Arbitrator’s Mind. The piece, authored by FOI Susan Franck (American), Anna van Aaken (Max Planck Institute), James Freda (United Nations), Chris Guthrie (Vanderbilt) and Jeffery Rachlinksi (Cornell) builds on Guthrie’s and Rachlinkski’s piece Inside the Judicial Mind (with Judge Andrew Weistrich) from the early aughts. The abstract is below. Arbitrators are lead actors in global dispute...
December 19, 2016
Apropos of our recent focus on arbitrators, a new article recently appreared on SSRN, Inside the Arbitrator’s Mind. The piece, authored by FOI Susan Franck (American), Anna van Aaken (Max Planck Institute), James Freda (United Nations), Chris Guthrie (Vanderbilt) and Jeffery Rachlinksi (Cornell) builds on Guthrie’s and Rachlinkski’s piece Inside the Judicial Mind (with Judge Andrew Weistrich) from the early aughts. The abstract is below. Arbitrators are lead actors in global dispute...
Texas Supreme Court Changes Mind, Tackles Arbitration Appeal
December 16, 2016
The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear Forest Oil’s challenge to a $16 million arbitration award over drilling waste pollution on the 27,000-acre McAllen Ranch in Hidalgo County. The neutrality of an arbitrator and the panel’s jurisdiction over the dispute are among the issues raised in a long-running dispute that has been before the Supreme Court previously, producing a 2008 decision that allowed the arbitration to proceed.
December 16, 2016
The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear Forest Oil’s challenge to a $16 million arbitration award over drilling waste pollution on the 27,000-acre McAllen Ranch in Hidalgo County. The neutrality of an arbitrator and the panel’s jurisdiction over the dispute are among the issues raised in a long-running dispute that has been before the Supreme Court previously, producing a 2008 decision that allowed the arbitration to proceed.
Arbitration in Federal Court — 2016
December 14, 2016
The Fifth Circuit’s analysis of arbitration issues is significantly influenced by the standard of review. A challenge to arbitrability involves careful scrutiny of the parties’ agreements. A challenge to the arbitration process or the ultimate award, however, faces a much more difficult standard of review. Arbitrability In Kubala v. Supreme Production Services, the parties disputed whether an arbitration agreement reached an employment claim that arose before entry into the agreement. The district...
December 14, 2016
The Fifth Circuit’s analysis of arbitration issues is significantly influenced by the standard of review. A challenge to arbitrability involves careful scrutiny of the parties’ agreements. A challenge to the arbitration process or the ultimate award, however, faces a much more difficult standard of review. Arbitrability In Kubala v. Supreme Production Services, the parties disputed whether an arbitration agreement reached an employment claim that arose before entry into the agreement. The district...
Are Arbitrators Human?
December 14, 2016
Empirical research has confirmed the correctness of the legal realists’ assertion that “judges are human.” It demonstrates...
December 14, 2016
Empirical research has confirmed the correctness of the legal realists’ assertion that “judges are human.” It demonstrates...
