Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » Western District

Western District Compels Arbitration Where Contractor Had Sole Discretion to Arbitrate

By Beth Graham - December 13, 2010

The Western District of Texas has compelled arbitration where the parties to a construction contract entered into an agreement which provided only one party with the discretion to submit any disputes to binding arbitration. In United States ex rel. Gillette Air Conditioning Co. v. Satterfield & Pontikes Constr., No. SA-10-CV-778XR, (12/7/2010), Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Inc. (Satterfield) entered into a subcontract with Gillette

Law Review Article: “Disappearing Juries and Jury Verdicts”

By Victoria VanBuren - July 13, 2009

To follow up on our post of last week. We are pleased to recommend another excellent law review article, “Disappearing Juries and Jury Verdicts,” 39 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 289, written by the Honorable Sam Sparks, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas and DLA Piper attorney George B. Butts. The article traces the history of jury trials, presents statistics reflecting the decline in the number of cases tried, and discusses F

Is unconscionability becoming a stronger basis for denying enforcement of arbitral awards?

By Karl Bayer - September 20, 2005

Guest blogger, Rick Freeman, wrote yesterday about a recent San Antonio Court of Appeals case upholding a finding that the AAA‘s estimate of costs and fees was so high as to make the requirement of arbitration unconscionable. Today the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found an arbitration procedure developed by Amway and JAMS was substantively unconscionable. Judge Dorr could not accept (see p.24) the defendants R