Yesterday, the Fifth Ciruit Court of Appeals handed down an opinion affirming a decision from the Northern District of Texas to vacate an arbitral award where the single arbitrator failed to disclose that he had worked with one of the attorneys in the case on a large piece of patent litigation in the 1990s. The arbitrator and the attorney in question were two of thirty-four lawyers representing Intel in the prior case over the course of several years, and they never met or spoke prior to the arbitration, but the district court found that the arbitrator still had an obligation to disclose the prior relationship, and the failure to disclose required that the District Court vacate the award. The Fifth Circuit agreed. The opinion (download .pdf version of opinion here), written by Justice Reavley, explains in detail the history of Fifth Circuit Jurisprudence on the question of arbitrator disclosure of potential conflicts, and confirms that the rule in the Circuit is “when in doubt, at all, disclose.” Positive Software v. New Century Mortgage Corp., et al. Cause No. 04-11432 (designated for publication).
Continue reading...On Wednesday, The Third Court of Appeals issued an opinion overturning a trial court summary judgment and rendering judgment in a case which involved the calculation of royalty fees under an oil and gas lease. Cause No. 03-04-00820-CV, Tana Oil & Gas Corp. v. Cernosek, et al.
Continue reading...Yesterday, the Third Court of Appeals handed down two memorandum opinions. The first discussed a deferred ajudication of a truancy charge. Cause No. 03-03-00253-CV, Jim Walden v. Rex Baker, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Hays County Yesterday’s other memorandum opinion affirms a trial court judgment dismissing a declaratory judgment action which sought to invalidate Austin’s new smoking ordinance. The VFW, which operates bingo halls in which smoking is commonplace, argued that Austin’s smoking ban improperly criminalized behavior, smoking, which is legal in Texas. The Court of Appeals held that the trial court rightly dismissed the VFW’s claim “because a civil court does not have jurisdiction to make the naked declarations requested by appellants.” Cause No. 03-03-00762-CV, Veterans of Foreign Wars v. City of Austin
Continue reading...The Texas Supreme Court issued two per curiam opinions this morning. The first invoked Rule 47.1 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure and remanded a case back to the 11th Court of Appeals. The Court found that the Court of Appeals’ opinion “failed to identify and expressly consider modification and waiver as distinct issues associated with the relief the parties requested from the arbitrator” and remanded the case for further consideration of those issues. The underlying case involves arbitration issues, but the short Supreme Court opinion is concerned with appellate procedure rather than the law of confirming arbitration awards. The Court’s other per curiam opinion reviewed a Second Court of Appeals opinion in a termination of parental rights case. Technorati Tags: litigation, Texas Supreme Court, law
Continue reading...Disputing is published by Karl Bayer, a dispute resolution expert based in Austin, Texas. Articles published on Disputing aim to provide original insight and commentary around issues related to arbitration, mediation and the alternative dispute resolution industry.
To learn more about Karl and his team, or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Karl’s live scheduling calendar, visit www.karlbayer.com.
Disputing is published by Karl Bayer, a dispute resolution expert based in Austin, Texas. Articles published on Disputing aim to provide original insight and commentary around issues related to arbitration, mediation and the alternative dispute resolution industry.
To learn more about Karl and his team, or to schedule a mediation or arbitration with Karl’s live scheduling calendar, visit www.karlbayer.com.