Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » 2007

Mandatory Disclosure of Arbitration Info in Texas?

By Rob Hargrove - February 28, 2007

The ICM’s blog just reported that Texas Senator Royce West has proposed legislation that would require the disclosure of certain basic information about arbitrations taking place in Texas. It would allow for some basic tracking of numbers of disputes sent to arbitration and awards being made in consumer and employment cases, other than residential construction cases (John Fleming was quoted in the blog piece noting that the powerful constru

Fifth Circuit Confirms Arbitral Award

By Rob Hargrove - February 28, 2007

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit handed down an opinion confirming an arbitral award in favor of Texaco (link is to .pdf file) in a contract dispute over some off-shore oil exploration in the Bohai Bay of China. The opinion confirms the award with discussion of two important points, one which has been discussed at length in the Circuit, and one which has not.The arbitrator in this case awarded Texaco more than $71M, some $20M of which was an award of

Texas Supreme Court Compels Another Arbitration

By Rob Hargrove - February 23, 2007

This morning, the Texas Supreme Court issued three opinions. The Texas Appellate Law Blog has already posted short summaries of them all (not that we have any interest in a race to do such things, but I would note that I was at the courthouse all morning and not able to check this morning’s orders as promptly as I like to). One of the opinions is another arbitration opinion, so we will discuss it in just a bit of detail. In a per curiam opi

Judge Sparks Dismisses Case Against MySpace

By Rob Hargrove - February 15, 2007

Austin-based U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks granted MySpace.com’s Motion to Dismiss a number of claims brought by the family of a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old she met on MySpace.com. Both the criminal prosecution of the 19-year-old and the civil suit against MySpace have garnered lots of attention both locally and nationally. The plaintiff in the civil case sought to apply duties developed in premis

Third Court of Appeals Issues Defamation Opinion

By Rob Hargrove - February 15, 2007

On Tuesday, the Third Court of Appeals issued an opinion dismissing a number of defamation claims brought by Williamson County’s District Attorney against the Smithville Times. The case involved a series of editorials about a Williamson County murder prosecution that ran in the Times in late 2001 and early 2002. The detailed opinion sets forth the burden a public official must meet to prevail on a defamation case. Texas Appellate Law Blog d

More Texas Bloggers Discuss Arbitrability

By Rob Hargrove - February 14, 2007

Barry Barnett’s Blawgletter discussed a recent Second Circuit arbitrability opinion yesterday (Ross v. American Express). The opinion holds that Section 16 of the FAA, which allows interlocutory appeal of an order refusing to compel arbitration, applies in cases where the motion to compel arbitration was based not on a written agreement to arbitrate, but upon estoppel principles by which courts sometime compel non-signatories to arbitrate (

Texas Supreme Court Update

By Rob Hargrove - February 9, 2007

The Texas Supreme Court handed down five opinions this morning. None is about arbitration, so we’ll give them short shrift here. City of San Antonio v. TPLP Office Park Properties is a discussion of the City of San Antonio’s potential police power to close access to certain roadways in order to address residents’ complaints about commercial traffic in their neighborhood. Cause No. 04-1130. In Norris v. Thomas, a five-justice maj

Arbitrability of Wrongful Death Cases

By Rob Hargrove - February 1, 2007

Well, the Florida arbitration blog has another interesting post today. It concerns a Missouri case where a court refused to compel arbitration of a wrongful death case against a nursing home. According to that case, since the Missouri wrongful death statute creates a new cause of action in favor of the decedent’s statutory beneficiaries, and it is not a cause of action that the decedent could have had prior to his/her death, the statutory b