Validity of Arbitration Agreement

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Showing it will soldier on without Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court granted cert, vacated, and remanded an arbitration decision from West Virginia yesterday.  Because this is the exact same treatment the Court gave a case from Hawaii’s highest court in January (and the same treatment I predicted, ahem), it suggests SCOTUS is trying to go…

Most questions of arbitrability can be resolved on motion, using a summary judgment-like standard.  However, just like summary judgment, if there are genuine disputes of material fact about whether a claim must be arbitrated — like competing evidence about whether the parties ever formed an arbitration agreement — those should be determined by a trial. …

This week, the Fourth Circuit found an arbitration agreement invalid because it waived all federal and state laws.  Although two other federal circuit courts had already found the same company’s arbitration agreement unenforceable because it called for an impossible arbitration process, the Fourth Circuit found it invalid for a new reason.

The issue in Hayes…

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…

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…

Arbitration is having its 15 minutes of fame.  Thanks to a series in the New York Times, my inbox is full of links to the articles, questions about the information, and fascinating commentary.  [Next time I am in Oakland, I am totally having the “Scalia” cocktail at Italian Colors.]  With the far-reaching audience of the…

Two opinions came out recently in disputes over the arbitrability of putative class actions alleging that employees were not paid for overtime (and other labor violations). In one, the Nevada Supreme Court acknowledged that its 2011 ruling, finding class action waivers in arbitration were unconscionable, is preempted. In the second, the Ninth Circuit found…

Nursing home arbitration agreements are among the most unpopular arbitration agreements around.  Last week, Kentucky’s Supreme Court issued a lengthy, but fractured, opinion, finding three arbitration agreements were never validly formed because the signing parties did not have authority to give up the decedent’s constitutional right to a jury trial.  Extendicare Homes, Inc. v. Whisman…