Liz Kramer

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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.

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In the past few months, two federal appellate courts have had to determine whether parties were bound to arbitrate claims that arose from relationships governed by multiple agreements, only some of which called for arbitration.  While the courts reached different conclusions based on the facts, they both relied on the same critical inquiry: did the…

Just after I posted about the awesome power of federal courts to enjoin other cases, the Federal Circuit reminds us the power is not absolute.  In Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland Gmbh v. Genentech, Inc., __ F.3d __, 2013 WL 1921073 (Fed. Cir. May 10, 2013), it affirmed the district court’s decision not to enjoin a foreign…

As a thank you to all the subscribers and readers who continue fueling Arbitration Nation’s success, this 100th blog post contains my recipe for the Best Arbitration Agreement Ever.  (I know, where did the time go??  The blog is growing up so fast!)  What should your arbitration agreement include?  How can you best take advantage…

In a new case that reminds federal judges everywhere to sing “I’ve got the power!” like C&C Music Factory, the Fifth Circuit reiterates that federal courts can stay related state court actions if necessary to “protect or effectuate” an order compelling arbitration.  American Family Life Assurance Co. of Columbus v. Biles, __ F.3d __,…

In a dispute over whether an arbitrator has authority to grant a video game developer and publisher a perpetual license in the intellectual property as a remedy for the developer’s fraud and breaches of contract, the Fifth Circuit found that the arbitrator’s creative award must be upheld under the Federal Arbitration Act, and set forth…

More than one year ago, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit determined that California case law, which precluded arbitration of claims asking for public injunctive relief, was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act.  Upon rehearing the case en banc, the Court backpedaled.  Kilgore v. KeyBank Nat’l Assoc., __ F.3d __,…

The Fourth Circuit issued a bold new arbitration decision last week, sending a putative class of shuttle drivers to arbitration while expanding its application of SCOTUS’ Concepcion decision beyond cases involving federal preemption of state arbitration law.  Muriithi v. Shuttle Express, Inc., __ F.3d __, 2013 WL 1287859 (4th Cir. 2013).

Muriithi was a…

While the oral argument before the United States Supreme Court in Sutter today was ostensibly about whether to affirm an arbitrator’s decision that the parties’ contract authorized class arbitration, the decision really turns on how the Court will review all arbitration decisions.  (Transcript here.)  Multiple Justices expressed an unwillingness to create a special …