A resource for litigators, in-house counsel, and arbitrators
This is my 290th post at ArbitrationNation and today I celebrate six years of blogging. Woo hoo — that’s longer than most celebrity marriages! In honor of the occasion, here are updates on six of the hottest issues in arbitration law so far this year.
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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),…
The 9th Circuit’s decision to enforce the arbitration agreement in Uber’s agreements with drivers made lots of news last week. And although it includes no new principles of law, it does emphasize some principles that come up regularly in consumer and employment arbitration, so it’s worth reviewing the details.
Former drivers brought an action in…
In a decision that appears intentionally controversial, the Supreme Court of New Jersey yesterday refused to enforce the delegation clause in a for-profit college’s enrollment agreement in a 5-1 opinion. Morgan v. Sanford Brown Institute, 2016 WL 3248016 (N.J. June 14, 2016). Although the delegation clause had never been specifically challenged by the plaintiffs, as…
A recent report showed that less than half of arbitration agreements in the consumer financial arena include delegation clauses in their arbitration agreements. Two recent decisions from state high courts suggest that is a wise decision because courts do not like to enforce delegation clauses. (Reminder: a delegation clause gives the arbitrator explicit authority to…
Say it’s twenty degrees below zero outside, and you’d already seen boiling water turn into “snow” immediately upon making contact with the air, what would you do next? Assuming you were all caught up on your Words With Friends games, you would read the 168-page initial report of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau about arbitration! …
As a thank you to all the subscribers and readers who continue fueling Arbitration Nation’s success, this 100th blog post contains my recipe for the Best Arbitration Agreement Ever. (I know, where did the time go?? The blog is growing up so fast!) What should your arbitration agreement include? How can you best take advantage…
A recent decision from a federal district court in Tennessee raises a discrepancy in how the courts treat arbitration agreements that hinder a plaintiff’s state law and federal law claims. Cases under the FAA state that arbitration agreements cannot be enforced if enforcement means plaintiffs will not be able to effectively vindicate their federal statutory…
The Ninth Circuit ruled this week that a class of car owners could pursue their court claims against the manufacturer, Toyota, for product defects and false advertising, despite the existence of an arbitration agreement in each of the owners’ purchase agreements with the car dealerships. The court held that Toyota had not proven either of…