Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » Texas Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court Holds that the Court, not the Arbitrator Should Decide the Issue of Capacity to Contract

By Victoria VanBuren - July 14, 2009

The Texas Supreme Court held that a trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to submit to the arbitrator the question of whether a party to an arbitration agreement lacks the mental capacity to assent. Justice Medina delivered the opinion of the court, in which Chief Justice Jefferson and Justices Wainwright, Green, Johnson, and Willett joined. Justice Brister filed a concurring opinion, Justice Willett filed a concurring opinion, Ju

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

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Burden of Proof in Arbitration Agreement

By Victoria VanBuren - June 15, 2009

Last Friday, the Texas Supreme Court held that a party challenging a forum-selection clause has the burden of proving the clause is invalid. In In re International Profit Associates, Inc, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex. 2009) (Cause No. 08-0531), Riddell Plumbing, Inc. (Riddell) hired International Profit Associates, Inc. (IPA) to provide consulting services. Their contract contains the following forum-selection clause: At [Riddell’s] election, [IPA agrees]

Texas Supreme Court Orders Arbitration in Oil and Gas Dispute

By Victoria VanBuren - April 21, 2009

Last week, the Supreme Court of Texas decided In re Gulf Exploration, LLC, No. 07-0055 (Tex. Apr. 17, 2009). The issue was whether mandamus review of orders compelling arbitration should be entirely precluded. Thanks to Don Philbin for bringing this case to our attention. First, the court noted the narrow exception articulated by the Fifth Circuit in Apache Bohai v. Texaco China, that mandamus might be available if an applicant can show “cl

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

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

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

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

Supreme Court Reverts to Previous Stance on Waiver

By Rob Hargrove - May 21, 2008

Well, it took a couple weeks, but the Texas Supreme Court has reverted to its pre-Perry Homes stance on the circumstances in which a party may or may not waive its right to compel arbitration. On Friday, while we were otherwise indisposed and unable to blog, the Texas Supreme Court found that a party’s decision to remove a case to federal court (and then agree to a remand back to state court) did not “substantially invoke the judicial

While We Were Out: Texas Supreme Court Decides Perry Homes, et al. v. Cull

By Rob Hargrove - May 5, 2008

I picked the wrong week to go on vacation. While I was on an airplane coming back from France, the Texas Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in the Perry Homes Case. The Texas legal blogosphere has already been all over it, and the Supreme Court of Texas Blog has posted a nice recap of the commentary. At the risk of coming to the party late, we’ll still offer some comments on Friday’s opinion. Robert and Jane Cull bought a h