A resource for litigators, in-house counsel, and arbitrators
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.
The actual and potential arbitration docket at the Supreme Court contracted in the last week due to three events.
First, SCOTUS made quick work of an appeal from the Hawaii Supreme Court. Remember when I predicted that the DIRECTV case was going to make it even harder for state courts to find arbitration agreements unenforceable…
The Alabama Supreme Court has followed the Eighth Circuit’s lead, concluding that when the parties agree to arbitrate pursuant to the AAA Rules, they have clearly and unmistakably authorized the arbitrator to determine who is bound by that arbitration agreement. Federal Ins. Co. v. Reedstrom, __ So. 3d __, 2015 WL 9264282 (Ala.…
Arbitration case law did not break any new ground in 2015. Instead, a larger sector of the public became aware of the ground already broken in 2011 and 2013, as well as how common arbitration is in professional sports.
Let’s review some of the attention-grabbing arbitration headlines of 2015. There was:
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Before I can sum up 2015 in arbitration (next post!), I need to report on some new cases coming out of the federal and state appellate courts in recent weeks. Two are just good reminders of basic arbitration law, but the third addresses an interesting question of double recovery.
Our first “reminder” case comes from…
Just under the wire, SCOTUS released an arbitration opinion today, ensuring that 2015 would continue the string of years with cases interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act. In DIRECTV v. Imburgia, the Supreme Court found that California’s interpretation of an arbitration clause was preempted by the FAA. DIRECTV is a 6-3 decision, with Justice Kagan…
The Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled recently that if a neutral arbitrator fails to meet disclosure requirements, it constitutes “evident partiality” as a matter of law, and requires the vacatur of the arbitrator’s award. Furthermore, Hawaii interpreted its disclosure requirements broadly, and in this case found an arbitrator’s failure to disclose the “concrete possibility” of…
I am thrilled to announce that Arbitration Nation has been selected for the fourth year running to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 list. Thank you to everyone who nominated this blog and to those who continue reading it, suggesting topics, and challenging my interpretations.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Recent decisions from the 3d and 11th Circuits drive home this point: an arbitration award is final and should not be revisited.
In Robinson v. Littlefield, 2015 WL 5520017 (3d Cir. Sept. 17, 2015), the parties arbitrated their dispute over the quality of a new RV. The arbitrator ruled for the RV buyers, awarding…
Today’s post is a good one for all those defendants/ respondents who are convinced that they have a slam-dunk case and want to recover their attorneys’ fees. Because while these particular respondents were not successful, they paved a path that may lead others to collect attorneys’ fees after defeating claims in arbitration.
The case involved…
Some arbitration topics just never die. This post strings together new cases on three of those topics: 1) whether arbitration agreements that call for the now-defunct National Arbitration Forum (NAF) are enforceable; 2) formation fights in nursing home agreements; and 3) the continuing fight between the NLRB and the courts over class action waivers in…