It’s not at all evident to me why SCOTUS felt the need to grant review of Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela. But it did. And the majority decision, authored by Chief Justice Roberts, did precisely what I think that everyone who looked at the case expected: it held that courts cannot find the necessary
SCOTUS
As Predicted, SCOTUS Eliminates “Wholly Groundless” Exception
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Year In Review
I called it. SCOTUS issued its unanimous opinion today in Henry Schein v. Archer & White, vacating and remanding the Fifth Circuit decision and making clear that there is no “wholly groundless” exception to the Federal Arbitration Act’s enforcement of delegation clauses.
As you may recall, a circuit split had developed over the “wholly…
Biggest Arbitration Stories Of 2018
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Year In Review
As we close out 2018, it is a good time to reflect on the year in arbitration law. Overall, I would characterize the year as another in which everyone was mildly obsessed with class actions, the U.S. Supreme Court again showed its willingness to enforce arbitration agreements of all kinds, and lower courts and groups…
Kentucky Goads SCOTUS In New Arbitration Decision; Plus SCOTUS Update
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement, Year In Review
I would understand if not every state supreme court got the memo from last year’s SCOTUS decision on FAA preemption, Kindred, which reminded state courts that the FAA prevents state courts from imposing additional requirements on arbitration agreements that are not required for other types of contracts. But Kentucky definitely got the memo. The…
SCOTUS Takes Third Arbitration Case For Next Term (and bonus nursing home arbitration cases)
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement, Year In Review
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…
Trickle Down Arbitration-omics
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration, Uncategorized
Lots of folks are writing about the long-term impact of SCOTUS’s recent decision in Epic Systems, but it is also important to note that there has been immediate, short-term impact.
For example, a lead plaintiff agreed to take her sex discrimination case against a law firm to individual arbitration, abandoning her putative class action,…
Justice Gorsuch Delivered . . . A Win For Class Arbitration Waivers
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration, Year In Review
SCOTUS finally delivered its decision today in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the consolidated case that addresses whether employers can require employees to give up their right to class or consolidated litigation as part of an arbitration agreement. In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Gorsuch, the Court found that class action waivers are…
SCOTUS Adds Another Class Arbitration Case To Its Docket
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration
Today the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in another case involving the Federal Arbitration Act. The case, Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, comes from the Ninth Circuit and raises a variation of the question from Sutter: how clear does an arbitration agreement need to be to show the parties authorized…
Back to Arbitration Basics: Recent Federal Decisions (and a SCOTUS preview)
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Year In Review
Remember when Maria sang “Let’s start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start”? Well, that seems to be what federal circuit courts are doing with their arbitration decisions recently. This post will run through some Do Re Mis of arbitration law, as articulated by those decisions (and will close with some…
Resistance Or Retaining Shred of Dignity? Kentucky Responds On Kindred
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement
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…