I see more and more arbitration agreements that contain their own limitations period (the timeline for bringing a dispute in arbitration). Are all of those necessarily enforceable? No.
In Order of United Commercial Travelers of America v. Wolfe, 331 U.S. 586 (1947), the Supreme Court held that contracts may shorten the statute of limitations
In an opinion that runs less than three pages, the Eighth Circuit ruled that a managing broker-dealer is not obligated under the FINRA rules to arbitrate with a group of investors who purchased securities from another party. Berthel Fisher & Co. Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Larmon, __ F.3d. __, 2012 WL 4477433 (8th
This is unheard of! There were two circuit court decisions finding no binding agreement to arbitrate in a single week. (The first is here.) In this new decision from the Third Circuit, an employer’s submission of forms to a union fund along with fringe benefits is held insufficient to compel that employer to arbitration
In a fascinating decision, the Second Circuit has ruled that an internet merchant cannot compel arbitration with a consumer, when it only emailed the consumer the arbitration agreement after the consumer agreed to the purchase, without any requirement that the consumer affirmatively assent to the term.
In Schnabel v. Trilegiant Corp., __ F.3d __,
The earthquake that was the Concepcion decision (in April of 2011) is still sending aftershocks throughout the judicial system. In last week’s ruling, the Third Circuit compelled individual arbitration in Homa v. American Express Co., 2012 WL 3594231(3d Cir. Aug. 22, 2012), a case in which the parties have been fighting about whether the plaintiff
The Eleventh Circuit has decided to proactively preempt Florida law, before it could get in the way of the FAA by favoring class arbitrations (despite contract language precluding them).
In Pendergast v. Sprint Nextel Corp., __ F.3d. __, 2012 WL 3553466 (11th Cir. Aug. 20, 2012), a wireless customer wanted to bring a class action
The Supreme Court of South Carolina just ruled that contracts for the sale of residential property are not interstate commerce, and therefore are outside the reach of the Federal Arbitration Act. Bradley v. Brentwood Homes, Inc., __ S.E.2d __, 2012 WL 2847616 (S.C. July 11, 2012). That is a surprising result in my view,
It must be near the end of the clerk year, because courts are going gangbusters issuing opinions. Today, a roundup of three arbitration decisions from Southern states. Notably, Louisiana makes it tough for lawyers to enforce arbitration agreements with their clients.
After prominently noting that the lower court rulings were “eminently reasonable, logical and just,”
Arbitration agreements may shorten the statute of limitations that would otherwise be available for claims — but only to a point. A recent opinion from the First Circuit shows that how a plaintiff frames its argument that the contractual limitations period is unreasonably short can make a difference not only on whether the argument is
The saga of Brown v. Genesis Healthcare Corporation continues. Almost exactly a year ago, the West Virginia Supreme Court declared that arbitration agreements in pre-dispute nursing home contracts were unenforceable. Then in February SCOTUS reversed that decision and remanded the case for consideration of un-preempted unconscionability. Now, the West Virginia court has issued its decision