The Supreme Court issued another arbitration decision today in New Prime v. Oliveira. And like last week’s decision in Henry Schein, it was unanimous (but Kavanaugh did not participate). Today’s New Prime decision has two key holdings: First, it is for courts, and not arbitrators (regardless of any delegation clause) to determine whether
As Predicted, SCOTUS Eliminates “Wholly Groundless” Exception
I called it. SCOTUS issued its unanimous opinion today in Henry Schein v. Archer & White, vacating and remanding the Fifth Circuit decision and making clear that there is no “wholly groundless” exception to the Federal Arbitration Act’s enforcement of delegation clauses.
As you may recall, a circuit split had developed over the “wholly
Biggest Arbitration Stories Of 2018
As we close out 2018, it is a good time to reflect on the year in arbitration law. Overall, I would characterize the year as another in which everyone was mildly obsessed with class actions, the U.S. Supreme Court again showed its willingness to enforce arbitration agreements of all kinds, and lower courts and groups
Kentucky Goads SCOTUS In New Arbitration Decision; Plus SCOTUS Update
I would understand if not every state supreme court got the memo from last year’s SCOTUS decision on FAA preemption, Kindred, which reminded state courts that the FAA prevents state courts from imposing additional requirements on arbitration agreements that are not required for other types of contracts. But Kentucky definitely got the memo. The
SCOTUS Takes Third Arbitration Case For Next Term (and bonus nursing home arbitration cases)
I am a true arbitration nerd. But, when SCOTUS takes a THIRD arbitration case for its upcoming term, I wonder if the Justices are more obsessed with arbitration than I am. (Reminder of the other two here.) If they hear about the same total number of cases as this year (69), arbitration will
Justice Gorsuch Delivered . . . A Win For Class Arbitration Waivers
SCOTUS finally delivered its decision today in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the consolidated case that addresses whether employers can require employees to give up their right to class or consolidated litigation as part of an arbitration agreement. In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Gorsuch, the Court found that class action waivers are
Back to Arbitration Basics: Recent Federal Decisions (and a SCOTUS preview)
Remember when Maria sang “Let’s start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start”? Well, that seems to be what federal circuit courts are doing with their arbitration decisions recently. This post will run through some Do Re Mis of arbitration law, as articulated by those decisions (and will close with some
Tale of Two Arbitrations: Demonstrating The FAA In Flux
Whenever people ask me why I choose arbitration law to write and talk about, one of the reasons I give is that the law is in flux, creating a demand for information and analysis. Despite the fact that the Federal Arbitration Act has been around for over 90 years, there are constantly new developments in
The Ten Arbitration Trends Of 2017
2017 was a big year in arbitration law. We went from a country that seemed on the verge of banning arbitration in most consumer and employee contracts to a country whose federal policy embraces arbitration in nearly every context. From my vantage point, here are the ten top developments in the last twelve months:
- Regulation
Arbitration Nation Makes ABA Journal’s Blawg Hall of Fame
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Not just because of the chestnuts roasting and mistletoeing, but because it is when the ABA Journal names the best legal blogs. Arbitration Nation made it to the Top 100 list for the sixth year running, and remains the only arbitration blog on the list. Even more