Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » 2009

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Arbitration of Tort Claims in Employment Contract

By Victoria VanBuren - July 6, 2009

The Supreme Court of Texas held that a post-injury arbitration acknowledgment agreement is valid and compelled arbitration of tort claims within the context of an employment contract. In In re Macy’s Texas, Inc., __ S.W.3d __ (Texas 2009) (No. 08-0584), Erica Tomsic was an employee at department store Macy’s. Tomsic claims to have injured her back while working at the store in April 2007. On May 9 2007, Tomsic signed an “Arbitra

Law Journal Article: “Civil Jury Trials R.I.P.? Can it Actually Happen in America?” and the Federal Arbitration Act

By Victoria VanBuren - July 4, 2009

During this Fourth of July holiday weekend, our good friend Don Philbin stumbled across “Civil Jury Trials R.I.P.? Can it Actually Happen in America?” 40 St. Mary’s L.J. 795 written by the Honorable W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. In the article, Judge Furgeson discusses the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007, which is analogous to the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 (previously blogged here) currently considered in the U.S. Congress. If

The Employee Free Choice Act: Update

By Victoria VanBuren - July 2, 2009

Via the Adjunct Law Prof Blog, we learned that a new coalition, the Business Leaders for a Fair Economy is speaking out in support of the Employee Free Choice Act of 2009. The coalition released this ad, which claims that 1,000 business leaders agree the Employee Free Choice Act is key to restoring the country’s economy. The Act ( Senate version: S. 560 and Status; House version: H.R. 1409 and Status ) is currently in the U.S. Congress and

Obama’s Financial Regulatory Reform and Mandatory Arbitration in Financial Contracts

By Victoria VanBuren - July 1, 2009

Within President Obama’s proposal to reform the financial services sector, A New Foundation: Rebuilding Financial Supervision and Regulation, there is a provision that directs the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in investor contracts. Check out Professor Barbara Black’s discussion of the proposal in her post First Look at the Administration’s Financial Regulatory Re