Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » Northern District

N. D. of Texas Compels Arbitration in an Age and Race Employment Dispute

By Beth Graham - February 14, 2011

The Northern District of Texas has ordered binding arbitration in an age and race dispute with an at-will employee where an arbitration policy was implemented several years after employment began and the employee continued working after receiving notice of the policy. In Robertson v. U-Haul Co. of Texas, No. 3:10-CV-2058-D, (N. D. Tex., February 7, 2011), John Robertson sued U-Haul Co. of Texas (“U-Haul”) “for age and race discrimination under th

Northern District of Texas Refuses to Compel Arbitration in Bankruptcy Proceeding

By Beth Graham - November 11, 2010

The Northern District of Texas has refused to compel arbitration in a bankruptcy proceeding where the equities did not weigh in favor of ordering a non-signatory to arbitration, the party who sought to compel arbitration substantially engaged in adversarial proceedings and issues of bankruptcy law predominated. In Hallwood Group, Inc. v. Balestri (No. 3:10-CV-1198-K) (N.D. Tex. Oct. 21, 2010), the Hallwood Group appealed a bankruptcy court’

Special Master Appointed to Conduct Global Mediation in Bankruptcy Case

By Beth Graham - November 2, 2010

A special master was recently appointed by the Northern District of Texas in NetSphere v. Baron (In re Ondova Ltd. Co.), No. 3-09CV988-RF. The underlying Chapter 11 bankruptcy case involves numerous parties, offshore entities and several related lawsuits. After the bankruptcy court held four status conferences related to the parties’ global settlement agreement (GSA), approved by the bankruptcy court on July 28, 2010, the bankruptcy judge made a

Federal Judge Comments on “Why Isn’t ADR More Popular?”

By Victoria VanBuren - July 21, 2010

By U.S. District Judge W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. Dear Friends: I have read with interest “Why Isn’t ADR More Popular? A Report from Harvard.” From my perspective as a judge, I would recommend that lawyers be very careful about inserting mandatory arbitration language into their client’s contracts. First, I see a great deal of buyer’s remorse in cases where there is a mandatory arbitration clause that leaves a party no c

Texas Federal Court Finds Blockbuster’s Online User Agreement ‘Illusory’ and Denies Motion to Compel Arbitration

By Victoria VanBuren - June 24, 2009

[Ed. note: This case is a bit old, but an important one. It somehow got lost in the pile of papers sitting on my desk. Thanks to San Antonio arbitrator and mediator Don Philbin for bringing this case to our attention back in April. ] The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that an arbitration clause in Blockbuster’s Online User Agreement is illusory, thus, unenforceable and denied Blockbuster’s motion

Fifth Circuit Affirms Decision to Vacate Arbitral Award

By Rob Hargrove - January 12, 2006

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 y