The highest state court in West Virginia just found that a credit card company did not waive its right to arbitrate, despite initially choosing a court forum and waiting almost five years to raise its right to arbitrate. That is a somewhat surprising decision from a court that has been repeatedly willing to buck SCOTUS
Liz Kramer
Liz Kramer current serves as Minnesota's Solicitor General. Previously, she was a partner at Stinson Leonard Street and the founder of the award-winning blog, ArbitrationNation.
Arbitrator's False Credentials Are Sufficient To Vacate Award
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
In most circumstances, the Federal Arbitration Act requires that the losing party move to vacate an arbitration award within three months. However, the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that the three-month timeline can be tolled, especially for something as significant as the chair lying about being a licensed attorney.
In Move, Inc. v. Citigroup Global Markets…
SCOTUS Accepts Review of Kentucky Nursing Home Arbitration Case
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement
On October 28, the Supreme Court granted a cert petition in a case in which the Kentucky Supreme Court refused to enforce arbitration agreements in nursing home agreements. (Kentucky recently topped my list of states hostile to arbitration precisely because of the language in the decision that will be reviewed…)
Louisiana Rejects Arbitration Clause In Contract Of Adhesion
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement
The Supreme Court of Louisiana refuses to send customers who were injured while playing at Sky Zone to arbitration, finding that the arbitration clause “is adhesionary and therefore unenforceable”. Duhon v. Activelaf, LLC, __ So. 3d __, 2016 WL 6123820 (La. Oct. 19 2016); Alicea v. Activelaf, LLC, __ So. 3d __, 2016…
Administration Joins Courts In Prohibiting Arbitration In Nursing Home Admissions
By Liz Kramer on
Within the U.S. Government, the CFPB has gotten most of the attention for trying to regulate consumer arbitration. But this month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are bumping the CFPB out of the arbitration regulation spotlight. In particular, the CMS issued a rule that will prohibit the use of pre-dispute arbitration…
Preemption Parade: FAA Rolls Over Three State Rules
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement
Lest anyone think that the preemption doctrine in arbitration has gone dormant, today’s cases should set the record straight. Courts have recently found the FAA preempted state rules in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that one of its rules of civil procedure was preempted by the FAA in Taylor v…
Futility Trumps Waiver of Arbitration Rights in Third Circuit
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration, Waiver of Right to Arbitrate
Echoing a holding already issued by four other circuits, the Third Circuit recently found that a defendant does not waive its right to arbitration by continuing to litigate in court, if the reason it failed to move to compel arbitration is that the motion would have been futile. Chassen v. Fidelity Nat’l Fin., Inc.,…
Uber Enforces Arbitration Due To Delegation Clause And Opt Out
By Liz Kramer on
The 9th Circuit’s decision to enforce the arbitration agreement in Uber’s agreements with drivers made lots of news last week. And although it includes no new principles of law, it does emphasize some principles that come up regularly in consumer and employment arbitration, so it’s worth reviewing the details.
Former drivers brought an action in…
Lessons From Recently Vacated Arbitration Awards
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
While I was busy blogging out listicles and “think pieces” last month, my stack of unread arbitration cases grew exponentially. August was apparently a very busy month for publishing arbitration opinions. Maybe most surprisingly, the federal appellate courts vacated three arbitration awards in recent weeks. So I will start there, and end with…
Five Things That Should Be In Your Arbitration Agreement (Blogiversary Listicle #5)
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in ArbitrationNation Roadmaps (primers)
I am celebrating my fifth anniversary of blogging by publishing one listicle per day this week, and today is the last one (sniff, sniff). To recap: Monday’s topic was the five biggest surprises in arbitration law; Tuesday’s was the five states most hostile to arbitration; Wednesday’s was the five arbitration cases lawyers really ought to…