Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » Court Decisions about Arbitration

Texas Supreme Court: In Re jindal and In Re Bank of America

By Victoria VanBuren - March 2, 2009

Last Friday, the Texas Supreme Court handed down two opinions related to arbitration: In re Jindal Saw Limited, Jindal Enterprises, LLC, and Saw Pipes USA, (No. 08-0805). Citing In re Labatt Food Service, L.P., __S.W.3d __ (Tex. 2009), the court held that an arbitration agreement between a decedent and his employer required the nonsignatories beneficiaries to arbitrate their claims. In re Bank of America, N.A., (No. 07-0901). Deciding the issue o

Arbitration Award on Attorney’s Fees

By Victoria VanBuren - February 25, 2009

From our good friend Chuck Herring: Here‘s a somewhat interesting decision reversing in part an arbitration award on an attorney’s fees issue, holding that a contract provision that permitted the lawyer to recover fees and expenses for time spent incident to withdrawing from representation was unconscionable and unenforceable on public policy grounds because the DRs require that fees can be charged only for services performed on behal

Fifth Circuit: the Public Policy Exception

By Victoria VanBuren - February 17, 2009

The latest Fifth Circuit‘s decision related to arbitration is Cont’l Airlines, Inc. v. Air Line Pilots Ass’n, _F.3d_ (5th Cir. 2009) (Cause No. 07-20835). This case falls within the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which provides that minor disputes must be resolved through compulsory and binding arbitration before the System Board of Adjustment (SBA). Here, a pilot is appealing an order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern Distr

Third Circuit: Nonsignatories Plantiffs Not Bound by Arbitration Agreement

By Victoria VanBuren - February 16, 2009

In contrast to the Texas case of last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held, in an employment discrimination and retaliation case, that forty-one plaintiffs who were not signatories to the arbitration agreement were not required to arbitrate. Mendez v. Puerto Rican Int’l Cos., No. 07-4053, (3rd Cir. 2009). The eight signatories plaintiffs, however, were compelled to arbitrate their claims. The court stated that section

Texas Supreme Court: Nonsignatories Wrongful Death Beneficiaries Must Arbitrate

By Victoria VanBuren - February 13, 2009

Today, the Texas Supreme Court handed down In re: Labatt Food Service, L.P., __ S.W.3d _ Texas (2009) (Cause No. 07-0419). The opinion resolves the issue of whether nonsignatories to an arbitration agreement should be compelled to arbitrate claims when the decedent’s claims would have to be arbitrated. On a related note, S.B. 222 is currently being considered by the Texas Legislature. The bill deals, in part, with the extension of the Texas

Class Action Arbitration Waiver Found Unenforceable

By Victoria VanBuren - February 12, 2009

On January 30th, 2009, the Second Circuit refused to enforce an arbitration clause contained in American Express Co. merchants’ agreement. In Re: American Express Merchants’ Litigation, No. 06-1871 (2d Cir. 2009). The clause would prevent merchants who accept the card from bringing class-action antitrust claims against American Express. Like the Texas Supreme Court in In re Poly-America, L.P., the Second Circuit cited section 2 of the

Texas Federal Court Upheld Arbitration Award Despite ‘Manifest Disregard of the Law’ Challenge

By Victoria VanBuren - February 10, 2009

Despite a strong challenge, court upheld arbitral award. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas denied a motion to vacate an arbitral award and held that the arbitration panel did not “manifestly disregard” the law. Dealer Computer Services, Inc. v. Hammonasset Ford Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., Case No. 08-1865 (USDC S.D. Tex. Dec. 22, 2008). In 1993, Computer agreed to provide services for Ford’s dealership software system. The con

Unconscionable Arbitration Agreement: A First for Texas

By Victoria VanBuren - February 2, 2009

In a surprising decision (that almost went unnoticed because of the Holidays and warm Texas weather) arbitration provisions in an employment agreement were found unconscionable by the Texas Supreme Court. In re Poly-America, L.P., 262 S.W.3d 337 (Tex. 2008) involves a retaliatory-discharge claim under the Texas Worker’s Compensation Act (the “Act”) . Justice Brister filed a dissenting opinion. The facts of the case are as follows. In

Dead? Alive? Matter of Opinion?

By Karl Bayer - December 4, 2008

Hall Street and its progeny may have killed “manifest disregard” but the Second Circuit could have just resuscitated it; well, if you consider zombies as resuscitated beings. In Stolt-Nielsen SA v. Animalfeeds Int’l Corp., the Second Circuit held a court may still review whether an arbitrator manifestly disregarded the law, within Section 10 of the FAA. So is manifest disregard still a standard to be followed by the courts? It appears that if you

We Shall Not Waiver

By Karl Bayer - November 5, 2008

Perry Homes has once again been applied to describe what constitutes an arbitration waiver, except this time no waiver was found. As we have mentioned before in While We Were Out, a post from May, waiver is hard to come by in a Texas Supreme Court opinion. Perry Homes could have moved us into a parallel universe in which claiming waiver of arbitration is a winning argument. But those who criticized the opinion knew we would be making no such move