Texas Supreme Court Agrees to Consider Whether Arbitral Agreement in Cotton Dispute is Unconscionable

On November 22, the Supreme Court of Texas agreed to hear Venture Cotton Cooperative et al. v. Freeman et al., No. 13-0122.  The case is currently on appeal from Texas’ 11th Court of Appeals.  The main issue in the dispute is whether an arbitration agreement is unconscionable where the terms of a contract state that one party is allowed to collect attorney’s fees following a breach, but the other is not.  Both the trial court and the 11^th COA held the provision rendered the agreement substantively unconscionable.  Additionally, the appeals court ruled that the unconscionable clause should not be severed from the remainder of the contract due to Venture Cotton’s apparent waiver.  The case is set for oral argument on January 9, 2014.

Please stay tuned to Disputing for future posts on this interesting case!