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
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
Sorry, Arbitration Agreements Are Not For The Courts’ Benefit
The Supreme Court of Nebraska gave an unpleasant surprise to its trial court judges last week: they cannot enforce arbitration agreements sua sponte. Boyd v. Cook, 298 Neb. 819 (Feb. 2, 2018).
The case involved a messy shareholder dispute. A key contract to the dispute contained an arbitration provision covering “any dispute or
Non-Signatories Succeed In Compelling Arbitration In State Courts
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
SCOTUS Reverses KY Nursing Home Arbitration Decision; Refuses To Prioritize Right To Jury Trial
Just as I predicted, SCOTUS reversed the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision in Kindred this morning. The interesting piece, though, is that the seven member majority went out of its way to cut off some of the “on trend” methods that state courts have been using to avoid arbitration clauses.
The Kentucky decision can be
Fifth Circuit Dances On Head of Arbitration Pin
Demonstrating just how difficult it can be to separate questions about the “formation” of an arbitration agreement from the “validity” of that agreement, the Fifth Circuit found this month that when an argument was applied to two of the parties’ three agreements, it related to their formation, but when the same argument was applied to
8th Circuit Finds ADEA Does Not Preclude Arbitration
One of the few “get out of arbitration free” cards that SCOTUS offers litigants is this: find another federal statute that clearly entitles plaintiff(s) to a court trial. In a recent 8th Circuit case, that court carefully considered, and then rejected, the argument that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) constituted that type
SCOTUS Hearing Arbitration Case Wednesday; Spotlight On State Cases
While the Supreme Court has put off hearing a more contentious arbitration case until the fall (presumably in hopes that it will have nine justices by then), tomorrow it will hear the nursing home arbitration case from Kentucky. I look forward to listening to the questions and trying to figure out why the Justices granted
3 Class Actions, 3 Motions to Compel Arbitration, 1 Class Action Survives
The Ninth, Sixth, and Third Circuits all recently issued decisions about whether putative class or collective actions could proceed despite the existence of arbitration clauses. In two of those decisions, the courts found the arbitration agreements did not allow for class arbitration and therefore dismissed the claims. In the third, the court found the arbitration
Two States Buck FAA Preemption, While Alabama Stays the Course
Three state supreme courts tackled arbitration law in recent weeks: Alabama, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. Rhode Island reversed a construction arbitration award because it disagreed with the arbitrator’s analysis. North Carolina found that an arbitration agreement in a doctor-patient setting was unenforceable as a breach of the doctor’s fiduciary duty. And Alabama strictly enforced