Arbitration is meant to be an alternate to litigation. Yet arbitration is itself the subject of much litigation over who must arbitrate, what must be arbitrated, whether and how the arbitration should proceed, and the deference courts must show to arbitration awards. This blog is intended to be a resource for litigators, in-house counsel, arbitrators and anyone else who wants to stay on top of the many thorny issues that arise under the Federal Arbitration Act. Our Bloggers →
Scope of Arbitration Agreement In the past few months, two federal appellate courts have had to determine whether parties were bound to arbitrate claims that arose from relationships governed by multiple agreements, only some of which called for arbitration. While the courts reached different conclusions based on the facts, they both relied on...
Litigation vs. Arbitration, Scope of Arbitration Agreement, Validity of Arbitration Agreement 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...
Class Arbitration, Scope of Arbitration Agreement, Validity of Arbitration Agreement, Waiver of Right to Arbitrate 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...
Scope of Arbitration Agreement, Validity of Arbitration Agreement Two circuit court decisions in the last week have denied arbitration motions based on the lack of an arbitration agreement between the parties. These decisions show that while the federal presumption in favor of arbitration is generally a strong current, it is not strong enough to pull non-signatories into...
Appealing Arbitration Decisions, Scope of Arbitration Agreement The Fifth Circuit recently refused to vacate an arbitration award, despite the loser's arguments that: the arbitrators decided claims outside the scope of the arbitration agreement; and the winner's expert used incorrect damage numbers in his testimony. Morgan Keegan & Co., Inc. v. Garrett, 2012 WL 5209985...
Scope of Arbitration Agreement, Validity of Arbitration Agreement In an opinion that runs less than three pages, the Eighth Circuit ruled that a managing broker-dealer is not obligated under the FINRA rules to arbitrate with a group of investors who purchased securities from another party. Berthel Fisher & Co. Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Larmon, __ F.3d. __, 2012 WL 4477433 (8th...
Appealing Arbitration Decisions, Scope of Arbitration Agreement The Eleventh Circuit has "ironed out a wrinkle" in Alabama's arbitration jurisprudence that seemed to find executors outside the scope of arbitration contracts signed by the decedent. In Entrekin v. Internal Medicine Assocs. of Dothan, P.A., ___ F.3d __, 2012 WL 3208641 (11th Cir. Aug. 9, 2012), the district...
Scope of Arbitration Agreement Three federal circuit courts have recently looked at the shelf-life of an arbitration agreement. Can it apply even before the contract is effective? What about after a successor takes over the relationship? What if one party unilaterally changes its terms? The answer is that a properly worded arbitration...
Arbitration Rules/Procedures, Scope of Arbitration Agreement, Validity of Arbitration Agreement It must be near the end of the clerk year, because courts are going gangbusters issuing opinions. Today, a roundup of three arbitration decisions from Southern states. Notably, Louisiana makes it tough for lawyers to enforce arbitration agreements with their clients. After prominently noting that the lower...
Arbitration Rules/Procedures, Class Arbitration, Scope of Arbitration Agreement With less colorful language than its last arbitration opinion, the First Circuit sided with the Second and Third Circuits in limiting the application of the 2010 Stolt-Nielsen decision on the availability of class arbitration. Fantastic Sams Franchise Corp. v. FSRO Assoc. Ltd., __ F.3d __, 2012 WL 2402560 (1st Cir....
