Patent Infringement: Successful Litigation Stays the "Course"
A unanimous Supreme Court held May 23 that a party’s waiver of its arbitration right does not require showing prejudice to an opposing party, because the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) prohibits arbitration-specific rules....more
On September 14, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that One Technologies, L.P. (One Tech) did not waive its right to compel arbitration of plaintiff’s federal claim under the Credit Repair...more
As Dominic Toretto says: “Ask any racer, any real racer, it doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning’s winning.” “Fast and Furious” is the tenth highest-grossing film series ever, with a combined gross of over...more
The Ninth Circuit vacated the denial of a motion to compel arbitration and remanded for determination of whether a valid arbitration agreement exists in a recent lawsuit governed by Washington state law. According to the...more
The Supreme Court of Mississippi has reversed and remanded a trial court’s refusal to enforce an arbitration agreement after rejecting the plaintiff’s arguments against arbitration. The Court also instructed the trial court...more
The Court of Appeals of North Carolina's decision in Crosmun v. The Trustees of Fayetteville Technical Community College, ___ N.C. App. ___, 832 S.E.2d 223 (2019) provides much needed guidance to North Carolina courts on how...more
The First Circuit vacated an order compelling arbitration after finding that the arbitrator selection clause was unconscionable. The court nevertheless remanded the case to the district court to determine if the selection...more
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc. to decide a question that has divided the federal circuit courts and state supreme courts: “whether a provision...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019-20 term is receiving substantial attention for cases involving signature initiatives of President Donald Trump’s administration. But the Court also maintains an extensive docket directly relevant...more
Many contracts have provisions that state that disputes relating to the agreement will be resolved in arbitration. But often questions arise as to whether a particular dispute should be decided in arbitration or in court. ...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued two 5-4 decisions in as many months regarding class procedures. Lamp Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 587 U. S. ____ (2019) was favorable to corporate defendants by limiting the availability of class...more
In July 2018, our Construction Alert addressed the question of who decides the arbitrability of a dispute when your contract includes an arbitration clause. Is it a court or the arbitrator? How did the “wholly groundless”...more
Can arbitrators determine what issues they have the power to decide? According to the U.S. Supreme Court, they can, provided there is “clear and unmistakable evidence” the parties intended to delegate threshold questions to...more
Arbitration clauses are commonplace in corporate transactions, including those in the product liability arena. Whether the agreement concerns the distribution of a product to a seller or the sale of a product to a consumer,...more
In January 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision confirming the broad power of arbitrators and the strict enforcement of arbitration agreements. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court in...more
Taking the time to include a well-crafted arbitration agreement in your employment contracts sometimes feels like a moot point, but a recent unanimous U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales,...more
Archer & White Sales, Inc. (“Archer”) sued Henry Schein, Inc. (“Schein”) in federal court seeking both monetary and injunctive relief....more
In his first opinion since being confirmed to the Supreme Court, Justice Kavanaugh was joined by his fellow justices in unanimously deciding that delegation clauses in arbitration agreements must be enforced. Delegation...more
Gateway issues of arbitrability are presumptively for a court, rather than an arbitrator, to decide in the first instance. First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938 (1995). But arbitration is a creature of...more
In 1925, Congress passed and President Coolidge signed the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., which provides that arbitrators, not judges and juries, must decide the issues that the parties agreed to...more
In the past two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court released two unanimous opinions regarding enforcement of arbitration agreements under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc., and...more
Takeaway: Justice Kavanaugh’s first Supreme Court opinion is yet another High Court reminder that, when it comes to arbitration, the contract controls. If parties agree that an arbitrator should resolve the “gateway” issue...more
On January 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc.—the first opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh—reaffirming that, where parties have agreed to...more
Our International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Team examines how the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split over who decides the question of arbitrability—i.e., whether a claim falls within the scope of an arbitration...more
As we noted in our Dec. 19, 2018, blog article, there were three arbitration cases involving the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), all argued in October 2018, pending on the Court’s docket. Now, in a unanimous opinion written by...more