Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Commercial Law & Contracts

Law Firm Engagement Letter Arbitration Clauses: A Higher Standard Required?

by JAMS, The Resolution Experts on 5/24/2013

Should law firms be required to meet heightened standards before they are able to contract with clients to arbitrate malpractice lawsuits? If so, how high should these standards be? ...more

Court Holds Non-Parties May Enforce Arbitration Agreement Even Though The General Rule Is That They Can’t

by Keith Paul Bishop | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 5/24/2013

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, more commonly known as FINRA, has adopted a Code of Arbitration for Customer Disputes (FINRA has a separate code for industry disputes). Under FINRA’s Customer Code, a claim by or...more

The Relationship Is Governed By Multiple Agreements And Not All Require Arbitration; Must You Arbitrate?

by Liz Kramer | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Arbitration... on 5/23/2013

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...more

TILA Prohibition on Mandatory Arbitration Provisions in Mortgage Agreements Takes Effect June 1, 2013

by Loeb & Loeb LLP on 5/22/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has enacted a new rule that will prohibit the inclusion of mandatory arbitration provisions and waivers of federal statutory causes of action in consumer mortgage and home equity loan...more

Do You Know the Seven Factors That Comprise "Just Cause"?

by David Froiland | Foley & Lardner LLP on 5/21/2013

The “just cause” standard has long been a cornerstone of traditional labor law (under many collective bargaining agreements, employees generally cannot be discharged except with “just cause”). However, the standard also has...more

Florida Complex Litigation Update: Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. v. Phillips: Florida Supreme Court rules that statute...

by Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph, PL on 5/21/2013

Resolving a matter of first impression in Florida, the Florida Supreme Court recently issued its decision in Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. v. Phillips, Case No. SC11-2513 (Fla. May 16, 2013), concluding that...more

Problematic Sports Industry Contract Provision No. 1 - The (Un)enforceability of Arbitration Provisions

by M. Quinn Murphy | Armstrong Teasdale LLP on 5/21/2013

The first problematic contract provision often found in sports industry contracts are arbitration provisions. Many sports industry owners beleive that arbitration is a helpful way to resolve contractual disputes...more

The Arbitration Decision

by Haley McCauley, David Treacy | Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 5/20/2013

MHC Kenworth ruling strengthens enforcement of arbitration provisions, but are they good for your business? Although public policy generally favors the enforcement of arbitration agreements, Kentucky courts...more

Resource nationalism and its impact on infrastructure projects

by Peter Cassidy, Joseph Otoo | Reed Smith on 5/19/2013

Introduction - The global demand for natural resources continues unabated. As revenues increase and profits soar in the face of this demand, there has been a resurgence of “resource nationalism” with resource-rich host states...more

TILA Ban on Mandatory Arbitration in Mortgage Loans Takes Effect June 1

by Richard J. Andreano, Jr., Alan S. Kaplinsky, Mark J. Levin, Jeremy T. Rosenblum | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/17/2013

The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ban on mandatory arbitration provisions in certain mortgage loans becomes effective on June 1, 2013. Lenders now using mortgage loan documentation containing such provisions should take steps...more

Promotion Of Arbitration In The 21st Century

by Brian A. Berkley, Benjamin Eichel, Ryan E. Peters | Pepper Hamilton LLP on 5/17/2013

While pundits complain about the United States Supreme Court’s diminishing docket, one area of law seems to have increased in popularity with the justices: arbitration law, and in particular the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)....more

Attorneys' Fees Provisions: Not a Blank Check to Overreach

by Anne Kane | Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP on 5/16/2013

In the American legal system, attorneys’ fees and costs are not recoverable as damages unless expressly authorized by statute. Legal fees are simply a cost of doing business unless the parties to a contract agree otherwise....more

Arbitral Award of Perpetual License Upheld by Fifth Circuit

by JAMS, The Resolution Experts on 5/15/2013

Once in a while it seems the people who design live-action war-based video games get into real-world non-virtual disputes of their own. When “Timegate” promised to “Southpeak” that it would design a videogame named “Section...more

Fenwick Employment Brief - May 2013: Substantive Fairness Overcomes Elements of Procedural Unconscionability in Mandatory...

by Daniel J. McCoy, Dan Ko Obuhanych | Fenwick & West LLP on 5/15/2013

In yet another case addressing the enforceability of mandatory arbitration agreements in California, a Southern California federal district court in Williams v. Department of Fair Employment and Housing recently held that...more

New EU rules on online and alternative dispute resolution - a win/win?

by Susan McLean | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 5/15/2013

On 22 April 2013, the Council of the European Union (the “Council”) adopted a regulation on online dispute resolution (“ODR”) and a directive on alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”). Tonio Borg, the EU's Commissioner for...more

A Construction Lawyer Can Help You Negotiate (Not Sue)

by Christopher G. Hill on 5/15/2013

Christopher Hill, LEED AP discusses further ways that a good construction attorney can assist a construction company to resolve its disputes ...more

Tenth Circuit Holds Underlying Securities Claims Interrelated

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 5/14/2013

In its recent decision in Brecek & Young Advisors, Inc. v. Lloyds of London Syndicate 2003, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 9599 (10th Cir. May 13, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, applying New York law,...more

Appellate Notes: Week of April 18th

by Edward McCreery III | Pullman & Comley, LLC on 5/14/2013

Welcome to our Supreme and Appellate Court summaries webpage. On this page, I provide abbreviated summaries of decisions from the Connecticut appellate courts which highlight important issues and developments in Connecticut...more

New FIDIC Guidance: Should a party to a FIDIC contract be able to enforce a ‘binding’ DAB decision before the decision has become...

by Gordon Bell, Elinor Crowther | Reed Smith on 5/13/2013

On 1 April 2013, FIDIC issued guidance on how to deal with a contracting party who has failed to comply with a ‘binding’ decision of a Dispute Adjudication Board - The standard FIDIC form of contract contains a tiered...more