Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog

WSJ: “Turmoil in Arbitration Empire Upends Credit-Card Disputes”

By Victoria VanBuren - October 19, 2009

Last week’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting and well-written article about arbitration of credit card disputes, centered around the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). Hat tip to Don Philbin. Here is an excerpt: Arbitration and mediation have existed as ways to resolve disputes in the U.S. for more than 200 years. They became the standard practice in the financial world after 1987, when a Supreme Court decision gave securities firms th

Grants for Medical Liability Reform Demonstration Projects

By Victoria VanBuren - October 9, 2009

by Holly Hayes Last month, President Barack Obama announced a plan (discussed here and here) for funding medical malpractice reform projects in order to explore ways to manage medical liability claims. Below is a press release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) about the grant funding process. AHRQ Announces Intent to Publish Grant and Contract Solicitations for Patient Safety and Medical Liability Reform Demonstration Pro

Texas Governor Appoints Justice Eva Guzman to Serve on the Texas Supreme Court

By Victoria VanBuren - October 8, 2009

Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed today Justice Eva Guzman of the 14th Court of Appeals to serve on the Supreme Court of Texas. Justice Guzman will replace Justice Scott Brister, who left the court in September. As Don Cruse at the Supreme Court of Texas Blog points out, an appointed Justice does not have to be confirmed by the Texas Senate until the next session, so Justice Guzman can run for a six-year term in 2010. Read more at the Houston C

NASAA’s Statement on FINRA’s Arbitration Pilot Program Expansion

By Victoria VanBuren - October 7, 2009

To follow up on our recent posts on securities arbitration (available here and here) we thought that you would like to know that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced on October 5, 2009 the expansion of its two-year pilot program that gives investors who are filing claims the option to select an arbitration panel composed of three public arbitrators instead of two public and one non-public. Read more about the pilot progra

Comments to Dan Solin’s Post on Arbitration of Securities Disputes at FINRA

By Victoria VanBuren - October 6, 2009

John Fleming sent us the following comments about our post of yesterday (find the post here): I have a beef with the Solin’s approach. FINRA has a new pilot program that allows customers to choose arbitration panels with only non-industry arbitrators. Guess what? In reality customers and their lawyers are actually choosing to have industry arbitrators on the panels in about 50% of the cases, even when they can exclude them. Privately, lawye

Arbitration of Securities Disputes at FINRA

By Victoria VanBuren - October 5, 2009

Our friend John C. Fleming from Hays & Owens, L.L.P sent us the following post: [update: find John C. Fleming’s comment about this post here] A reader of my blogs sent me an e-mail with a Customer Agreement from a major brokerage firm. She asked me to look it over and tell her if she should sign it. The first thing that struck me was this clause: “Brokerage activities are regulated under different laws and rules than advisory acti

Reminder: 33rd Annual Page Keeton Civil Litigation Conference | Austin October 29-30

By Victoria VanBuren - September 29, 2009

Need CLE credits? The University of Texas School of Law will host its 33rd Annual Page Keeton Civil Litigation Conference on October 29-30, 2009 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas. Professor Tracy McCormack and Karl Bayer will present on October 30, “Effective Advocacy in Arbitration.” Arbitration: do you know when you should ask for it and what to do if you get it? Concrete instruction on advocacy in arbitration, using actual

Reminder: State Bar of Texas CLE | Dallas October 29-30 | Business Torts

By Victoria VanBuren - September 28, 2009

Mark your Calendars! The Texas Bar CLE presents a new course on Business Torts, co-sponsored by the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas. The live conference will take place in Dallas on October 29-30, 2009. This course will provide discussions on the following areas: • Tortuous Interference • Trade Secrets & Misappropriation • Fraudulent & Negligent Misrepresentation • Breach of Fiduciary Duty in Business Litigation • Business To

Class Action Suit Filed Against the National Arbitration Forum

By Victoria VanBuren - September 17, 2009

As brought up for discussion by Professor Peter Friedman at our Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation LinkedIn Group, the law firm of Milberg LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). The Complaint alleges, among other things, that NAF falsely presented its arbitration services as neutral. (read more here) [Update: Click on the link for the text of the Complaint Magnone v. Accretive LLC, courte

U.S. Congressional Hearing | “Mandatory Binding Arbitration – Is it Fair and Voluntary?”

By Victoria VanBuren - September 16, 2009

As reported by PointofLaw.com, the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing on September 15th, titled “Mandatory Binding Arbitration – Is it Fair and Voluntary?“ Witnesses included: Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (D-GA), sponsor of H.R. 1020 (a.k.a. “Arbitration Fairness Act”). The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 would ban mandatory pre-dispute arbitration