A resource for litigators, in-house counsel, and arbitrators
The Fifth Circuit just deepened (and confused) a Circuit split over the question of who decides whether an arbitration agreement permits class proceedings. See 20/20 Communications, Incorporated v. Crawford, 2019 WL 3281412 (5th Cir. July 22, 2019).
Liz has written about the split here, here, and here. (You might also recall…
The Seventh Circuit issued an opinion last week that sounded like it would be a big deal. The case, Herrington v. Waterstone Mortgage Corp., 2018 WL 5116905 (7th Cir. Oct. 22, 2018), dealt with the fallout from SCOTUS’s Epic Systems, and addressed a class arbitrability issue of first impression, which meant it could…
Usually the plaintiffs in a class action want to stay out of arbitration, but in the recent case of JPAY v. Kobel, 2018 WL 4472207 (11th Cir. Sept. 19, 2018), it was the class representatives who were fighting for arbitration. In particular, they wanted the arbitrator to decide whether they could have a class…
Today’s post concerns a perennially hot topic: class actions. In particular, do courts decide whether an arbitration agreement allows for class actions? Or do arbitrators? (Because, it turns out, there are actually some corporations who have not inserted class action waivers in their consumer contracts.) To date, four circuit courts have held that class arbitrability…
What happens when state courts disagree with SCOTUS’s interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act? They resist, and they have a thousand different ways of doing so. The Mississippi Supreme Court demonstrated one way to resist recently in Pedigo v. Robertson, Rent-A-Center, Inc., 2017 WL 4838243 (Miss. Oct. 26, 2017). (I neglected to mention the…
If you are a party that wants courts to rigidly enforce delegation clauses – sending questions about even the validity of the agreement to arbitration – then you will appreciate a new decision from the Tenth Circuit. In Belnap v. Iasis Healthcare, __ F.3d __, 2017 WL 56277 (10th Cir. Jan. 5, 2017),…
March comes in like a lion, right? Well, that’s not true with respect to the weather here in Minneapolis. But it may be true with respect to arbitration decisions from around the country. This post focuses on two recent decisions from state high courts that refuse to compel arbitration.
In Global Client Solutions, LLC v.
Lots of interesting arbitration law has been made already in 2016, so here is a roundup from the first four weeks of the year. As a teaser, courts have breathed life into the effective vindication doctrine, found arbitrators cannot determine the availability of class actions, and found state laws not preempted. More surprisingly, state courts…
The Alabama Supreme Court has followed the Eighth Circuit’s lead, concluding that when the parties agree to arbitrate pursuant to the AAA Rules, they have clearly and unmistakably authorized the arbitrator to determine who is bound by that arbitration agreement. Federal Ins. Co. v. Reedstrom, __ So. 3d __, 2015 WL 9264282 (Ala.…
Usually, when faced with a respondent who refuses to pay its share of the arbitration fees, a claimant simply pays both sides’ fees, so that the arbitration can proceed. A new case out of the Tenth Circuit answers the question: what happens if it does not pay both sides’ fees? Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. v.