A resource for litigators, in-house counsel, and arbitrators
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:
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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…
If I had to choose a favorite subset of arbitration cases, it might be the ones that come after SCOTUS remands to a state supreme court. How does a state high court full of accomplished professionals, the cream of the legal crop in their state, respond after the U.S. Supreme Court has found their previous…
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…
Pencils down. (Is the modern equivalent “cursors down”?) All the attorneys who were drafting new form consumer agreements to comply with the CFPB rule prohibiting class action waivers can now trash those documents. Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, the Senate voted 51-50 last night (with the VP as tie-breaker) to nullify the CFPB’s rule. …
Just five months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on a nursing home arbitration dispute in Kindred Nursing Centers v. Clark. It held that the Kentucky supreme court’s rationale for not enforcing the arbitration agreement was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. Before that, multiple state courts had found state law bases for…
The high courts of two states have allowed non-signatories to compel arbitration in recent weeks. The cases show courts are addressing non-signatory issues using different standards and raise important drafting issues for joint ventures and business affiliates.
In Locklear Automotive Group, Inc. v. Hubbard, 2017 WL 4324852 (Alabama Sept. 29, 2017), the Supreme Court…
The “Summer of Arbitration” draws to a close tomorrow, if you can believe it. (On the first day of fall, it is supposed to be 91 degrees in Minnesota. Yikes.) But before I close that chapter, let’s take a look at a theme that emerged in these last weeks: non-signatories losing their attempts to compel…
In two recent decisions, the Alabama Supreme Court made clear that if an arbitration clause specifies it only applies to disputes between the two parties who sign the clause, that will be strictly enforced. No third party can enforce the arbitration agreement.
In Nissan N. Am. v. Scott, 2017 WL 3446129 (Ala. Aug. 11,…
In a decision that is very skinny on the facts, a unanimous Nevada Supreme Court recently un-vacated a significant arbitration award in a dispute over dental franchises. In Half Dental Franchise, LLC v. Houchin, 2017 WL 3326425 (Nev. Aug. 3, 2017), the court found the arbitrators did not exceed their power in exercising authority…