Four weeks ago, the boundary between public enforcement and private dispute resolution became more blurred. On September 4, the Justice Department announced that it had agreed to binding arbitration on the key issue in a current merger case—the market definition.
The enforcement action is garden variety. It challenges Novelis Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation.
What are the defining characteristics of an arbitration agreement? The dissent in a new 9th Circuit case took on that vexing issue, while the majority sidestepped it altogether while refusing to compel arbitration.
In Boardman v. Pacific Seafood Group, __ F.3d __, 2016 WL 1743350 (9th Cir. May 3, 2016), a group
On January 29, the U.S. Dept. of Justice filed an amicus brief supporting respondents in AmEx III, arguing that to enforce the class arbitration waiver would be to create a large loophole for important federal laws. The Solicitor General has also asked to argue at the hearing on February 27. To my knowledge, DOJ
In answer to the proverbial question “how much litigation waives the right to arbitrate?,” the Third Circuit has responded that ten months does the trick, if the party seeking arbitration has engaged in significant motion practice, regardless of whether any discovery was exchanged. In re Pharmacy Benefit Managers Antitrust Litig., __ F.3d __, 2012