2015 has been a dry spell in arbitration decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, but 2016 promises to be much more interesting. In addition to the California case being heard next week, SCOTUS just granted certiorari in another California-based arbitration decision. This one, MHN Government Services, Inc. v. Zaborowski, will review an unpublished 2-1
The primary purpose of this blog is to educate lawyers and clients about arbitration law. So, what better way to celebrate my fourth blogiversary than with an awesome new infographic about compelling arbitration! Making a motion to compel arbitration is trickier than it seems. When people call me for advice, I often have to tell
Just as I was beginning to worry that arbitration had fallen out of favor at the nation’s highest court… today the Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case of DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia during its October Term, an appeal from a California Court of Appeals. In DIRECTV, a case pitting Kirkland &
The Third Circuit recently found that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts a Pennsylvania statute that restricts corporate plaintiffs in state and federal court in Pennsylvania to those companies that are registered to do business in Pennsylvania. Generational Equity, LLC v. Schomaker, 2015 WL 708481 (3d Cir. Feb. 19, 2015). In other words, a company
A lot of interesting arbitration law was made this year, on topics from validity to vacatur, but the banner issue was arbitrator authority. SCOTUS announced that theme for the year with its BG Group decision in March and federal and state courts around the country ran with it. [Warning: this post is a doozy. Get
Two state supreme courts found consumer arbitration agreements unenforceable in the past week: Arkansas and New Jersey. Arkansas grounded its decision on the lack of mutuality in the consumer arbitration agreement (similar to Missouri’s recent ruling). Alltel Corp. v. Rosenow, 2014 WL 4656609 (Ark. Sept. 18, 2014). New Jersey grounded its decision on
This week the Supreme Court of California held that the FAA preempts California’s 2007 Gentry ruling, one that protected employees from nearly all class action waivers in arbitration agreements. Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, __ P.3d__, 2014 WL 2808963 (Cal. June 23, 2014). However, asserting its Californian-ness, the court found an clever
California is the Judd Nelson of The Preemption Club. (Or the John Bender, if you prefer using character names.) The Supreme Court has sent the California courts to preemption detention for ignoring the Federal Arbitration Act in blockbuster, groundbreaking cases (see Concepcion). But California cannot help itself. It keeps coming up with novel arguments
The Tenth Circuit ruled last week that arbitration case law from New Mexico is preempted by the FAA. This decision calls into question whether states can find arbitration agreements unconscionable simply for being unilateral, i.e. one party is bound to arbitrate its claims while the other party is free to litigate in court.
In 2012,
BY JEFF MASON
The First and Ninth Circuits recently issued opinions concerning the validity of state laws requiring “informed consent” to, or “full disclosure” of, arbitration clauses in attorney retainer agreements. Although the First Circuit found its way around the issue, the Ninth Circuit took it squarely on, holding that such requirements, at least as