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Court Decisions about Arbitration
Fifth Circuit Refuses to Compel Nonsignatory to Arbitrate
By Victoria VanBuren - June 30, 2010
In Blaustein v. Huete, No. 09-31078 (5th Cir. June 18, 2010), Burt Huete (“Huete”) along with Richard and Gail Blaustein, formed Special Projects Limited, L.L.C. (“SPL”) in connection with an application for a provisional patent for a wireless tracking device they had invented. SPL hired the law firm Maier & Maier (“Maier”) to serve as patent counsel. Their written fee agreement contained an arbitration cla
Granite Rock v. Teamsters: U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Arbitrability
By Victoria VanBuren - June 28, 2010
Last week, the U.S. Supreme issued its decision on Granite Rock v. Teamsters, No. 08-1214 , June 24, 2010. Justice Thomas wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Alito. Justices Stevens and Sotomayor concurred in part and dissented in part. In Granite, the responder is a local union (Local) supported by its parent international (IBT). The petitioner is Granite Rock (Granite), em
GUEST-POST | Rent-a-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson and the Ongoing Assault on Party Autonomy
By Victoria VanBuren - June 23, 2010
By James M. Gaitis With the issuance of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Rent-a-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson, the foundational principle of party autonomy in arbitration has suffered yet another blow. In essence, and as was fairly and pejoratively described in what may well be Justice Stevens’ last opinion (dissenting, as it was), the majority’s “breezy” and “fantastic” decision in Rent-a-Center, West decrees that that even when a s
GUEST-POST | Professor Alan Scott Rau Comments on Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson
By Victoria VanBuren - June 22, 2010
By Alan Scott Rau One really needs a few days to absorb the importance of cases like this—I know instant punditry is increasingly de rigueur, but I’m quite uneasy with it. Anyway, with that caveat, one could say the following: The doctrinal importance of the case seems swamped by the overwhelming reality that arbitration, at least in adhesion contracts, has become something of a political football: Apparently “to decide that cla
New Arbitration Petition Before the U.S. Supreme Court
By Victoria VanBuren - June 21, 2010
[UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court decided Rent-a-Center v. Jackson today. Find a link to the opinion here. Commentary about the case to follow. Stay tuned.] A new arbitration-related petition has been filed recently before the U.S. Supreme The case comes from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. On December 17, 2009, the Fifth Circuit granted the motion to dismiss the case without any opinion. In Zurich American Insurance Company v. Pioneer
New York’s Court of Appeals Establishes Ability-to-Pay Hearing Before Enforcing Fee-Splitting Provision in Employment Arbitration Agreement
By Victoria VanBuren - June 10, 2010
The Court of Appeals of New York [the highest court in the State of New York] held that an employee challenging the enforceability of a fee-splitting provision in a pre-dispute arbitration agreement is entitled to a factual hearing to establish that her inability to pay arbitration costs precluded her from vindicating her statutory rights. In Brady v. Williams Capital Group, L.P., 2010 N.Y. LEXIS 49 (N.Y., Mar. 25, 2010) Lorraine Brady was employ
GUEST-POST | Possible Outcomes for Class Arbitration Waivers in Consumer Contracts
By Victoria VanBuren - June 2, 2010
[Ed. note: Following find interesting comments about AT&T v. Concepcion, a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more about the case here. These comments were first posted at Paul Lurie’s excellent listserv and we are reprinting them with the author’s permission.] By James M. Gaitis Ultimately, we are faced with at least four different possible outcomes for consumer arbitration provisions containing class preclusion clauses.
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Cert to Tobacco Arbitration Case
By Victoria VanBuren - June 1, 2010
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Montana, No. 09-911. The question presented was whether the Montana Supreme Court violated the Federal Arbitration Act by refusing to compel arbitration of a dispute between tobacco companies and settling states that courts of other states and territories have held arbitrable under the plain terms of the nationwide Master Settlement Agreement. Links to the case br
Fifth Circuit Rules on Arbitration Nonsignatories Rights’ Under the New York Convention
By Victoria VanBuren - May 31, 2010
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that nonsignatories to arbitration agreements may be compelled to arbitrate under the New York Convention. In Todd v. Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association (Bermuda) Limited, No. 09-30177 (5th Cir. March 18, 2010) Anthony Todd was injured in Louisiana while working as a chef aboard the steamship American Queen, owned and operated by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company (“Delta Q
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Class Arbitration Waiver Case: AT&T v. Concepcion
By Victoria VanBuren - May 24, 2010
Today, the U.S. Supreme court granted certiorari to AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, No. 09-893. The Ninth Circuit opinion is available here. The question presented is: Whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts States from conditioning the enforcement of an arbitration agreement on the availability of particular procedures–here, class-wide arbitration–when those procedures are not necessary to ensure that the parties to the arbitra
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