Houston’s First Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court’s order refusing to compel a lease dispute to arbitration. After the trial court denied Speedemissions’ motion to compel arbitration, the company filed an appeal with Houston’s First District.

Texas’ Ninth District Court of Appeals in Beaumont has ordered a dispute to arbitration based upon the doctrine of direct-benefits estoppel. Under direct-benefits estoppel principles, a nonsignatory must arbitrate a claim if she seeks, through the claim, to derive a direct benefit from the contract containing the arbitration provision.

The American Medical Association (AMA) Organized Medical Staff Section (OMSS) provides a list of 12 principles for strengthening the physician-hospital relationship on their website. This principle is consistent with The Joint Commission revised medical staff standard (MS) 010101 Jane Reister Conrad wrote an excellent post about the standard. Let us know your thoughts about improving hospital-physician relationships.

The following bills relating to arbitration were introduced during the ongoing 83rd Texas legislative session. The last day of the regular session will be Monday, May 27, 2013. Please click on the bill number to read its text and on the status link to find the bill’s legislative history.