In a post entitled “Who Will Guarantee the Safety of Off-shore Oil and Gas Facilities?” on Larry Susskind‘s blog, the Consensus Building Approach, he suggests the need for an off-shore oil and gas industry risk management system akin to the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) created after the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island. Although licensing and a variety of other aspects of nuclear power plant operations are managed by fede

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For those interested in discovery, Dr. S.I. Strong, Professor of Law at the University of Missouri and contributor to this blog, wrote recently an excellent article entitled “Jurisdictional Discovery in United States Federal Courts.” The piece appears in 67 Washington and Lee Law Review 489 (2010). Here is the abstract: Jurisdictional discovery ties together three principles central to federal civil procedure: the right to broad disco

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Oral arguments in Rent-A-Center West v. Jackson, a case that we have been following on this blog, are scheduled at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, April 26. Here are some relevant details: Question Presented: Is the district court required in all cases to determine claims that an arbitration agreement subject to the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) is unconscionable, even when the parties to the contract have clearly and unmistakably

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  On June 19, 2009, Texas House Bill 1083 was signed into law.The new provision, effective immediately, prevents courts from ordering mediation in cases subject to the Federal Arbitration Act (excepting cases where the parties have agreed otherwise).The bill, which passed both the House and the Senate without amendment, applies to all actions commencing on or after June 19th. What does this mean for future Texas cases involving the FAA?Fewer

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