Liz Kramer

Subscribe to Liz Kramer's Posts

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.

Follow:Liz's Linkedin ProfileLiz's Twitter Profile

Just a few months after its first Director took office in January of 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is embarking on a study of arbitration.  The CFPB announced on April 24 that it invites the public to send information about “how consumers and financial services companies are affected by arbitration and arbitration clauses,” so…

A new survey found that Fortune 1,000 corporations are significantly less likely to arbitrate contract disputes today than they were in 1997.  In the 1997 study, 85% of companies reported using arbitration in commercial contract disputes at least once during the prior three years.  In 2011, however, only 60 percent of companies so reported.  In…

Although courts and practitioners may think of the Stolt-Nielsen decision as the death knell of class arbitration, the Third Circuit’s ruling last week serves as a reminder that the Stolt-Nielsen did not deal a mortal blow.  In fact, in Sutter v. Oxford Health Plans LLC, __ F.3d __, 2012 WL 1088887 (3d Cir. April…

The Supreme Court of Arkansas has joined Florida, Ohio, and Arizona (at least) in holding that a non-lawyer is guilty of the “unauthorized practice of law” if he or she attempts to represent a corporation in arbitration proceedings.  Nisha v. Tribuilt Constr. Group, __ S.W.3d __, 2012 1034641 (Ark. Mar. 29, 2012).

Nisha involved a…

The Missouri Supreme Court just acknowledged that its 2010 decision, finding a class arbitration waiver was unenforceable under state law, is preempted by the FAA, pursuant to the rationale of Concepcion.  In Robinson v. Title Lenders, Inc., __ S.W.3d __, 2012 724669 (Mo. Mar. 6, 2012) and Brewer v. Mo. Title Loans, Inc.…

Three state law decisions relating to arbitration were toppled recently, based on application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s preemption decision in Concepcion. 

In Kilgore v. Keybank, __ F.3d __, 2012 WL 718344 (9th Cir. Mar. 7, 2012), the Ninth Circuit held that California case law, which precluded arbitration of claims asking for public injunctive…

Building off last post’s discussion of the Solymar case, and the surprisingly fuzzy line between challenges to the formation of contracts containing arbitration provisions and challenges to the validity of those contracts, here is a hypothetical for you to consider.  (Why a hypothetical?  Because it is spring break, and spring break reminds me of law…

The severability doctrine of federal arbitration law tells litigants that unless they can specifically challenge the validity of the arbitration provisions of the contract, as opposed to challenging the entire contract, the courts will not address the merits of the challenge.  (See entire line of increasingly harsh cases starting with Prima Paint and continuing…

The U.S. Supreme Court today vacated the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision from last June, holding that pre-dispute arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts will not be enforced in that state.  The content of the decision is not surprising, as it relies on notions of federal preemption and follows the analysis in Concepcion…