Circuit Split Over Collective Action Waivers in Employer’s Arbitration Agreement Continues to Widen
September 21, 2016

On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a published opinion that a class action waiver included in an employer’s...

Five Arbitration Cases You Should Know
September 20, 2016

Five Arbitration Cases You Should Know Rent-A-Center, West v. Jackson, 130 S. Ct. 2772 (2010).  This case is the culmination of the “severability” doctrine, which explains whether a litigant’s challenge to enforceability should be heard in arbitration or in court.  For the uninitiated, reading this case is like reading that Bruce Springsteen is actually an alien.  It is that counter-intuitive. BG Group, PLC v. Republic of Argentina, 134 S. Ct. 1198 (2014).  This case tries...

Five States Most Hostile To Arbitration
September 19, 2016

The Five States Most Hostile To Arbitration Kentucky West Virginia New Jersey Hawaii Montana

Five Things That Should Be In Your Arbitration Agreement
September 16, 2016

Five Things That Should Be In Your Arbitration Agreement A clear statement of the “scope” of the arbitration agreement — what kinds of disputes the parties are willing to arbitrate. The rules that will govern the arbitration.  The rules of the arbitration impact every aspect of the proceeding, including the court’s jurisdiction over issues of arbitrability.  So, identify the rules.  And please make sure they are rules that actually exist somewhere. The location of the arbitration...

Class Action Checklist
September 15, 2016

I developed a class action checklist designed to assist my clients in thinking through the issues necessary to settle their...

Five Biggest Surprises In Arbitration Law
September 14, 2016

The Arbitrator (and not a court) likely has authority to decide whether the parties must arbitrate and whether their...

Too Big to Nail: How Investor-State Arbitration Lacks an Appropriate Execution Mechanism for the Largest Awards
September 8, 2016

Typically, when an international arbitration tribunal renders an award, it includes a specific date by which the defendants must pay the award. If the defendants refuse to pay the award by the mandated deadline and the defendants are not seeking that the award be set aside, then the claimants have the ability to seize assets of the defendants through national courts that could enforce the tribunal’s judgment. Those courts may issue orders to seize a party’s assets in their jurisdiction as a way to enforce...

Will the Supreme Court Agree to Address Pre-Dispute Employment Arbitration Provisions Containing Class and Collective Action Waivers?
September 6, 2016

Christine Neylon O’Brien, Professor of Business Law at Boston College – Carroll School of Management has written “Will the Supreme Court Agree with the NLRB that Pre-Dispute Employment Arbitration Provisions Containing Class and Collective Action Waivers in Both Judicial and Arbitral Forums Violate the National Labor Relations Act – Whether There is an Opt-Out or Not?,” University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, Vol. 19, accepted (Forthcoming).  In here article, Professor O’Brien...

Regulating Arbitration
September 2, 2016

Rutgers Law School Assistant Professor David L. Noll has published “Regulating Arbitration,” California Law Review, Forthcoming. ...

Young Lawyers: Don’t Sue the Arbitrators!
September 2, 2016

Judges enjoy absolute immunity, even if their conduct is malicious or dishonest. See Bradley v. Fisher, 80 U.S. 335, 13 Wall. 335 (1872), and cases cited therein. The Supreme Court, following centuries of English precedent, held that judges have absolute immunity from suit as a result of their judicial acts, no matter how malicious, reasoning that judicial independence must be preserved at all costs:   For it is a general principle of the highest importance to the proper administration...