A resource for litigators, in-house counsel, and arbitrators
Continuing last week’s theme of “States Gone Wild,” here are three more oddball summer decisions from state supreme courts. All of them find interesting paths around federal case law (IMHO).
Georgia Says Class Complaint Is Deemed Arbitration Opt Out For All Class Members
In Bickerstaff v. SunTrust Bank, 2016 WL 3693778 (Ga. July 8,…
Today’s post is brought to you by the number 8. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a new opinion yesterday finding that a defendant who litigated in court for 8 months waived its right to arbitrate (aka, ARBITR8) plaintiff’s employment claims. [That could be my vanity plate!!]
Messina v. North Central…
The issue in analyzing whether a party waived its right to arbitrate is usually whether the defendant waited too long to assert the arbitration obligation. But, this week the Second Circuit had the opportunity to address whether a plaintiff waives its right to arbitrate by the simple fact of bringing a case in court.
In…
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…
After an arbitration about-face by the defendant in a class action, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the defendant had waived its right to compel arbitration by: participating in litigation for two years and affirmatively declining to enforce its arbitration agreement with the plaintiffs until after SCOTUS issued its Concepcion decision. Garcia v. Wachovia Corp.,…