The Federal Arbitration Act and the California Arbitration Act Diverge On Whether Interim Arbitration Awards Can Be Vacated. In the aptonymically-named case, Judge v. Superior Court, No. B267694 (2/7 8/15/16) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal considered whether the trial judge had property vacated an arbitrator’s ruling on clause construction requiring class arbitration of plaintiff’s […]
Court Of Appeal Rejects Waiver, Estoppel And Forfeiture Arguments Made By Lessor Who Failed To Timely Exercise Right To “Baseball Arbitration” In Rental Dispute. Miss Myrtle Rowe holding a baseball bat. March 14, 2010. Library of Congress. “Baseball arbitration” takes its name from salary arbitration in Major League Baseball, in which the […]
Enforceability Of Arbitration Provisions Is Uncertain, Threatening To Upset The Settlement Applecart. Joel Rosenblatt, reporting for Bloomberg on August 18, 2016, explains why San Francisco District Court Judge Edward Chen’s rejection of a class-settlement between Uber and its drivers may now give Uber the upper hand: the Ninth Circuit is poised to rule on […]
Policy Of Encouraging Parties To Resolve Disputes Without Resort To Litigation Supports Liberal Construction Of Statutory Language. “This case presents the question of whether the Davis-Stirling Act, and particularly the fee-shifting provision of section 5975, subdivision (c), applies to an action to enforce a settlement agreement arising out of a mediation conducted pursuant to […]
The Evidence Supports Mediation’s Selling Points. The Maryland Judiciary has commissioned research to be conducted by independent researchers on the efficacy of mediation with small claims-type cases. The research claims to be “the only research in the country that compares the attitudes and changes in attitudes of participants who went through ADR to an […]
Can Kentucky Require That Nursing Home Resident’s Power of Attorney Reference Arbitration In Order To Effectively Bind Attorneys-In-Fact To Arbitrate Wrongful Death Cases? – Or Does Federal Arbitration Act Preempt State Requirement? Above: Nurse training. Nov. 1942. Fritz Henle, photographer. Library of Congress. At the beginning of the week, we reported that SCOTUSBlog’s […]
SCOTUSBlog’s “Petition of the Day” Presents Arbitration Issues. “The Jolly Smoker.” Currier & Ives. c1880. Library of Congress. On July 29, 2016, Kate Howard reported on the “Petition of the Day” in R.J. Reynolds Co. v. Maryland, 15-1537, presenting the issues: “(1) Whether, when the Federal Arbitration Act (‘FAA’) governs an arbitration, […]
Trial Court Is Reversed. Above: Judge James Wickersham in council with Indian chiefs. Fairbanks, Alaska. c1900-1907. Library of Congress. “As a matter of federal law, an Indian tribe is subject to suit only where Congress has authorized the suit or the tribe has waived its [sovereign] immunity.” Kiowa Tribe v. Manufacturing Tech., […]
In Re Swift Transportation, No. 15-70592 (9th Cir. 7/26/16): No To Mandamus. In a prior appeal, the 9th Circuit held that the district court, rather than the arbitrator, must decide whether the dispute was exempt from arbitration under 9 U.S.C., section 1. That section of the Federal Arbitration Act provides that the FAA does […]
Dissent Argues That Classwide Arbitrability Is A Gateway Question The Court Should Get To Decide. The courts have treated gateway arbitrability issues concerning the existence of an arbitration agreement and the scope of the agreement as “gateway” issues for the courts to decide, whereas so-called procedural issues are to be resolved by the arbitrator. […]