The Third Circuit welcomed us to the fall arbitration season with an important decision for the gig economy, Singh v. Uber Techs. Inc., 2019 WL 4282185 (3d Cir. Sept. 11, 2019). Relying on the key logic of SCOTUS’s January ruling in New Prime, Inc. v. Oliveira, the Third Circuit concluded that Uber drivers
Third Circuit
After Five Years In Court, West Virginia Finds Plaintiff Did Not Waive Right To Arbitrate
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Waiver of Right to Arbitrate
The highest state court in West Virginia just found that a credit card company did not waive its right to arbitrate, despite initially choosing a court forum and waiting almost five years to raise its right to arbitrate. That is a somewhat surprising decision from a court that has been repeatedly willing to buck SCOTUS…
Futility Trumps Waiver of Arbitration Rights in Third Circuit
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration, Waiver of Right to Arbitrate
Echoing a holding already issued by four other circuits, the Third Circuit recently found that a defendant does not waive its right to arbitration by continuing to litigate in court, if the reason it failed to move to compel arbitration is that the motion would have been futile. Chassen v. Fidelity Nat’l Fin., Inc.,…
Third Circuit Finds Two Months of Litigation Sufficient to Waive Right to Arbitrate
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Waiver of Right to Arbitrate
In a decision this week, the Third Circuit found two related parties had waived their right to arbitrate claims. One was no suprise — it had vigorously litigated the dispute for eleven months. But the second may have been simply guilty by association, as it had only litigated for two months. Supermedia v. Affordable Electric…
3d Circuit Says Delaware Can't Have Secret Arbitrations By Judges
By Liz Kramer on
The Third Circuit ruled last week that Delaware’s Chancery Court could not offer its judges’ services as neutral arbitrators in its courtrooms, unless those arbitrations were open to the public.
In 2009, the Delaware courts decided to provide arbitration. The state amended its laws to create an arbitration process that was only open to disputes…
SCOTUS Affirms Arbitrator's Decision To Allow Class Arbitration in Sutter
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions, Class Arbitration
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Sutter today, unanimously holding that as long as the arbitrator bases a decision to allow or disallow class arbitration on the text of the parties’ agreement, her “construction holds, however good, bad, or ugly.” Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. ___ (June 10, 2013). The …
Third Circuit Clarifies When Additional Discovery Must Be Allowed On Arbitrability
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement
In an opinion that feels a bit like a report from the annual meeting of arbitration nerds, the Third Circuit last week clarified when district courts must allow discovery about arbitrability. Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, LLC, ___ F.3d ___, 2013 WL 2302324 (3d Cir. May 28, 2013). Although the standard articulated is a…
Authority To Enter Into Contract Is Issue For Courts, Not Arbitrators
By Liz Kramer on
The Third Circuit just issued a decision that tries to divine the dividing line between challenges to the formation of contracts containing arbitration clauses (which are presumptively for courts), and challenges to the validity of contracts containing arbitration clauses (which are presumptively for arbitrators, if the challenge is to the contract as a whole). It…
Individual arbitration is plaintiff's "only remedy, illusory or not" — Third Circuit
By Liz Kramer on
The earthquake that was the Concepcion decision (in April of 2011) is still sending aftershocks throughout the judicial system. In last week’s ruling, the Third Circuit compelled individual arbitration in Homa v. American Express Co., 2012 WL 3594231(3d Cir. Aug. 22, 2012), a case in which the parties have been fighting about whether the plaintiff…
Third Circuit Issues Reminder That Stolt-Nielsen Decision Does Not Preclude Class Arbitration
By Liz Kramer on
Although courts and practitioners may think of the Stolt-Nielsen decision as the death knell of class arbitration, the Third Circuit’s ruling last week serves as a reminder that the Stolt-Nielsen did not deal a mortal blow. In fact, in Sutter v. Oxford Health Plans LLC, __ F.3d __, 2012 WL 1088887 (3d Cir. April…