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Arbitration
Notice of Employee Arbitration Clauses
March 6, 2019
I just blogged about a case in which failure to keep proper records meant there wasn't enough proof of agreement to the arbitration clause, and here's another one out of Texas, Stagg Restaurants, LLC v. Serra, No. 04-18-00527-CV. Stagg tried to compel arbitration, but the employee denied ever receiving notice of the clause or the agreement it was contained in. There was no signature on that particular agreement and none of Stagg's records indicated that it had ever been provided to the employee,...
March 6, 2019
I just blogged about a case in which failure to keep proper records meant there wasn't enough proof of agreement to the arbitration clause, and here's another one out of Texas, Stagg Restaurants, LLC v. Serra, No. 04-18-00527-CV. Stagg tried to compel arbitration, but the employee denied ever receiving notice of the clause or the agreement it was contained in. There was no signature on that particular agreement and none of Stagg's records indicated that it had ever been provided to the employee,...
Interpreting the Scope of Exclusion-From-Arbitration Clauses in the IP Rights Realm
March 6, 2019
The scope of arbitration clauses and exclusion-from-arbitration clauses are a common source of dispute. In the patent context, it is particularly important to understand the scope of exclusion-from-arbitration clauses concerning intellectual property rights. Recent case law provides guidance regarding whether exclusion-from-arbitration clauses for intellectual property rights cover defenses to patent infringement. In Verinata Health, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., (Fed....
March 6, 2019
The scope of arbitration clauses and exclusion-from-arbitration clauses are a common source of dispute. In the patent context, it is particularly important to understand the scope of exclusion-from-arbitration clauses concerning intellectual property rights. Recent case law provides guidance regarding whether exclusion-from-arbitration clauses for intellectual property rights cover defenses to patent infringement. In Verinata Health, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., (Fed....
Federal Court Sends Data Privacy Dispute to Arbitration
March 4, 2019
The Northern District of Illinois has ordered a proposed class action data privacy lawsuit that was filed...
March 4, 2019
The Northern District of Illinois has ordered a proposed class action data privacy lawsuit that was filed...
New Study about Consumer Arbitration
March 1, 2019
I just published a new study about the prevalence of consumer arbitration agreements: https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/online/vol52/52-online-Szalai.pdf. Because of the expansive, permissive (and in many respects, flawed) legal framework for arbitration created by the Supreme Court, together with the ease of generating contracts through online transactions, arbitration agreements have exploded in American society. Conservatively, based on publicly-available data from just a few companies,...
March 1, 2019
I just published a new study about the prevalence of consumer arbitration agreements: https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/online/vol52/52-online-Szalai.pdf. Because of the expansive, permissive (and in many respects, flawed) legal framework for arbitration created by the Supreme Court, together with the ease of generating contracts through online transactions, arbitration agreements have exploded in American society. Conservatively, based on publicly-available data from just a few companies,...
Wisconsin Ignores a Delegation Clause
March 1, 2019
Liz has written before about the ways that state courts sometimes try to resist SCOTUS’s love affair with arbitration. ...
March 1, 2019
Liz has written before about the ways that state courts sometimes try to resist SCOTUS’s love affair with arbitration. ...
Interpreting the Scope of Exclusion-From-Arbitration Clauses in the IP Rights Realm
February 28, 2019
The scope of arbitration clauses and exclusion-from-arbitration clauses are a common source of dispute. In the patent context, it is particularly important to understand the scope of exclusion-from-arbitration clauses concerning intellectual property rights. Recent case law provides guidance regarding whether exclusion-from-arbitration clauses for intellectual property rights cover defenses to patent infringement. In Verinata Health, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., (Fed....
February 28, 2019
The scope of arbitration clauses and exclusion-from-arbitration clauses are a common source of dispute. In the patent context, it is particularly important to understand the scope of exclusion-from-arbitration clauses concerning intellectual property rights. Recent case law provides guidance regarding whether exclusion-from-arbitration clauses for intellectual property rights cover defenses to patent infringement. In Verinata Health, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., (Fed....
Arbitration 101: A Reminder that Review of Arbitral Awards is Narrow
February 27, 2019
Pick up any textbook or treatise on arbitration law, and you’ll find the same thing in the chapter on enforcing arbitral awards: courts cannot conduct a merits review of awards. Courts, in other words, do not second guess the conclusions of the arbitrators about law or facts. Or at least they’re not supposed to do so. Still, losing parties often try to convince a reviewing court that the arbitrator “exceeded her powers.” These sorts of excess of authority arguments have become...
February 27, 2019
Pick up any textbook or treatise on arbitration law, and you’ll find the same thing in the chapter on enforcing arbitral awards: courts cannot conduct a merits review of awards. Courts, in other words, do not second guess the conclusions of the arbitrators about law or facts. Or at least they’re not supposed to do so. Still, losing parties often try to convince a reviewing court that the arbitrator “exceeded her powers.” These sorts of excess of authority arguments have become...
Ninth Circuit Agrees We Are “Arbitration Nation”, Vacates Arbitration Award
February 26, 2019
First, SCOTUSblog referenced “arbitration nation” last fall, which was flattering. Then last week the Ninth Circuit declared: “we have become an arbitration nation.” That was basically the title of my first post on this blog seven years ago! (“We are becoming an arbitration nation.”) I am going to turn up the Janet Jackson (“Rhythm Nation”) and feel smugly validated while I draft the rest of this post. Because there...
February 26, 2019
First, SCOTUSblog referenced “arbitration nation” last fall, which was flattering. Then last week the Ninth Circuit declared: “we have become an arbitration nation.” That was basically the title of my first post on this blog seven years ago! (“We are becoming an arbitration nation.”) I am going to turn up the Janet Jackson (“Rhythm Nation”) and feel smugly validated while I draft the rest of this post. Because there...
Tech Giant Google to End Mandatory Arbitration for Employees
February 25, 2019
Multinational technology company Google has reportedly announced it will no longer require mandatory arbitration of employee disputes with the company effective March 21, 2019. The company’s new arbitration policy will apply to Google employees as well as individuals who work for entities that exist under the Google legal umbrella such as the Access broadband unit and the DeepMind artificial intelligence program. The mandatory arbitration change will not, however,...
February 25, 2019
Multinational technology company Google has reportedly announced it will no longer require mandatory arbitration of employee disputes with the company effective March 21, 2019. The company’s new arbitration policy will apply to Google employees as well as individuals who work for entities that exist under the Google legal umbrella such as the Access broadband unit and the DeepMind artificial intelligence program. The mandatory arbitration change will not, however,...
Fifth Circuit Reverses Arbitrator’s Ruling in Southwest Airlines Labor Dispute
February 20, 2019
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has overturned an arbitrator’s ruling in a labor dispute that was filed against Texas-based Southwest Airlines. In Southwest Airlines v. Local 555, No. 18-10122 (5thCir., January 9, 2019), a labor union, Local 555, entered into a newly negotiated collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with Southwest Airlines in 2016. The terms of the CBA stated “it would become ‘effective’ after Southwest...
February 20, 2019
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has overturned an arbitrator’s ruling in a labor dispute that was filed against Texas-based Southwest Airlines. In Southwest Airlines v. Local 555, No. 18-10122 (5thCir., January 9, 2019), a labor union, Local 555, entered into a newly negotiated collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with Southwest Airlines in 2016. The terms of the CBA stated “it would become ‘effective’ after Southwest...
