Dispute Resolution Terms Incorporate Provisions Popularized By AT&T v. Concepcion Dropbox, that marvelous tool allowing you to share folders with your other computers, as well as with third parties, has notified its users that it is updating its terms of service, effective March 24, 2014. One change will be the addition of arbitration clauses […]
Read the Fine Print As readers of this website will know, arbitration provisions are often located in boilerplate, found in take-it-or-leave-it contracts, raising procedural unconscionability issues in California. Our next case does not involve arbitration – though it does involve arbitration’s beloved mate, boilerplate. So what happens when a bank fails to read […]
The Case Argued On February 27 Is American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant On November 20, 2012, I posted about American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the case now before the Supreme Court in which merchants have challenged American Express’s practice requiring them to accept its credit cards as a condition to […]
Deal Affecting Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Requires Approval of ILWU Rank and File Above: Free Harbor Jubilee. Los Angeles and San Pedro. 1899. Library of Congress. Only yesterday, we read that federal mediators were being called in to assist in settlement negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers (ILWU) Local […]
A November 7, 2012 post in California Attorney’s Fees discusses: “Arbitration/Mediation: The Debate Goes On … Are They Cost Effective?” Summarizing a recent article authored by Victoria Paal, Randall Block, and Steven Roland in the most recent 2012 edition of the California Real Property Journal, the post suggests that mediation is widely perceived to […]
Lead Underwriter in Facebook IPO Seeks to Avoid FINRA Arbitration With Facebook Investor On November 6, 2012, Suzanne Barlyn reported for Reuters that Morgan Stanley, a lead underwriter for the Facebook IPO, has filed a complaint in federal court in Manhattan seeking an order to stop FINRA arbitration initiated by a Facebook investor who […]
The website of The Negotiation Institute describes the institute as “the longest running negotiation skills training organization in the world.” Its founder, Gerard J. Nierenberg, died on September 19, 2012, as reported in a September 24, 2012 NY Times obituary. Mr. Nierenberg authored several books, including one entitled “How to Read a Person Like […]
Arbitrator Finds Insurance Coverage For Land Use Fiasco Famous for its big wave surfing, the City of Half Moon Bay got hit with a big one a while back, when it committed to pay $18M as a legal settlement to a private developer. That’s a “big wave” for a city reported to have a […]
Lost Opportunity to Use Outstanding Sitting Judges in Private Arbitration? "Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman." – Louis D. Brandeis Steven M. Davidoff reports on August 31, 2012 in the New York Times, […]
Mediation Approach Addressed Mutual Interests On August 27, 2012, Leslie Kaufman reported in the New York Times, that Harvard law professor Roger D. Fisher died at the age of 90. Professor Fisher was a co-author with William Ury and Bruce Patton, of the mediation ur-text, “Getting to Yes.” Professor Fisher also co-founded the Harvard […]