Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog

Arbitration Myths: Commentary by Federal Judge

By Victoria VanBuren - June 11, 2009

In response to our post about an article titled “Arbitration Myths” published by the National Arbitration Forum, U.S. District Judge W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. sent us the following [unedited] commentary via e-mail: Dear Friends: To say that arbitration awards are “approved” by a court before becoming enforceable gives the impression that a court will actually examine the merits of the arbitrator’s award. Under the Feder

GUEST-POST | Rectifying a Critical Flaw in the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009

By Victoria VanBuren - April 27, 2009

By Philip Loree, Jr. Introduction The Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum is pleased and honored that Victoria VanBuren of Disputing has invited us to guest blog on the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 (the “Arbitration Fairness Act”). Our blog shall likewise be featuring Victoria as a guest blogger from time-to-time. Victoria suggested that the Arbitration Fairness Act would be a particularly pertinent topic in light of the “Arbitration

Tomorrow’s Guest Blogger and The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009

By Victoria VanBuren - April 26, 2009

[Ed. note: see guest blog post here] Disputing will be honored to have guest blogger Philip Loree, Jr. Phil will be sharing insightful comments and will propose some solutions to the problems that the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 will likely create in disputes between commercial entities. (see past coverage of the Act here and here) Phil is a partner at the boutique law firm of Loree & Loree, where he focuses his practice on reinsurance l

The AIG Bonus Contracts: Legally Unconscionable?

By Victoria VanBuren - March 25, 2009

If you haven’t had enough of the AIG bonuses controversy, here is a post by Andis Kaulins from the LawPundit discussing the legal theory of unconscionability applied to the AIG employment contracts. We were surprised to learn that the standard AIG Employee Retention Plan (Bonus Contract) posted here by The New York Times contains no arbitration clauses. Also, here is a recent post from the ABA Law Journal. And here is yet another article fr

“Emergency Measures” Enacted During an Economic Crisis Have Lasting Legal Ramifications

By Karl Bayer - October 10, 2008

[Ed: On the cusp of what looks to be yet another long weekend on Wall Street, this cautionary tale by Chandra.] After enacting policies to stem the economic crisis of 2000-2002, Argentina is locked in multiple arbitrations with foreign investors who were hurt by the government’s actions, which included freezing foreign assets and prices. Most of these disputes revolve around claims that Argentina’s government violated the terms of the US-Argentin

It’ll just take a minute!

By Karl Bayer - October 6, 2008

Arbitrating With Your Client?

By Karl Bayer - July 28, 2008

My good friend Dicky Hile has been studying the ethics of arbitration provisions in attorney-client contracts for some time. He recently put down his thoughts and was kind enough to send us his paper. My personal viewpoint is that it is almost impossible to make these ethical, and their enforceability is still very much in doubt.

Professor Alan Scott Rau Responds to Hall Street v. Mattel

By Rob Hargrove - June 9, 2008

Professor Alan Scott Rau sent the following comments to Karl in response to our thoughts about his recent article on Hall Street v. Mattel. They are helpful, and they raise a question for our readers, that is, for lawyers in the trenches in Texas. The [unedited] comments follow: Two points, one small, one rather larger: I’m not entirely sure that parties do still have the option of using arbitration to generate “an agreed statement of

Professor Alan Scott Rau Gives Justice Souter a C-minus

By Rob Hargrove - June 5, 2008

A couple weeks ago, Prof. Rau over at the law school (with whom Karl has co-spoken about arbitration at a number of CLE programs) sent us a copy of his recent dissection of the Hall Street vs. Mattel Supreme Court opinion (link is to .pdf file), about which we blogged when it came out. The Professor, ahem, is not impressed with either the result or the handiwork: What truly appalled me about Hall Street, however, is not so much the unfortunate re

Florida Arbitration Blog Takes Issue With Texas Turn of Phrase

By Rob Hargrove - June 3, 2008

Earlier this morning, the Florida Arbitration Blog, a blog we read regularly and think highly of, posted a fairly critical review of an article in the Defense Research Institute’s magazine that apparently laments the pervasive use of mandatory arbitration as an assault on the jury system. Since the DRI does not allow non-members access to its magazine, Florida Arbitration Blog could not share a link to the article itself. Since we are not m