The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected a claimant’s effort to vacate the dismissal of his FINRA claim following his repeated failure to comply with various deadlines. ...more
8/31/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Dismissals ,
Failure to Comply ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Former Employee ,
Good Cause ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Sanctions ,
Scheduling Orders ,
Vacated
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to enforce an arbitration agreement because it impermissibly limited claims to those available under tribal law at the expense of federal statutory claims. The court also...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
7/29/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrator Selection Disputes ,
Arbitrators ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Forum Selection ,
Motion for Reconsideration ,
Motion to Compel ,
Puerto Rico ,
Remand ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Vacated
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected a party’s argument that an arbitration agreement was unenforceable because the contract containing the arbitration clause had been allegedly terminated and superseded. The...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently declined to compel arbitration in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) class action with respect to more than 70 employees for whom the defendant employer could not produce signed...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently compelled arbitration against insurers but not brokers related to a commercial insurance dispute....more
6/19/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Insurance Brokers ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Lloyds of London ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Non-Signatories ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage ,
Unconscionable Contracts
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that equitable estoppel doctrines can be invoked by non-signatories seeking to compel arbitration under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards....more
6/17/2020
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Foreign Arbitral Awards ,
GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC ,
Motion to Compel ,
New York Convention ,
Non-Signatories ,
SCOTUS ,
State Law Claims ,
Subcontractors
The Fifth Circuit has rejected challenges under Article V of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards to a Swedish arbitration award....more
The Fifth Circuit has suggested that the question of class arbitrability was for the arbitrator, not the court, based on the language of the arbitration clause at issue. The court ultimately concluded, however, that it did...more
If you’re like most businesses, you’re eager to reopen or return to “normal” operations as soon as possible. But before you reopen your offices and businesses—and perhaps while you have some extra time on your hands—it’s a...more
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has compelled arbitration over a party’s objection that the dispute at issue was not within the scope of the arbitration clause and that arbitration was...more
In recent weeks, at least 42 putative class action lawsuits have been filed against colleges and universities across the country related to campus shutdowns and the move to online education necessitated by the COVID-19...more
The Second Circuit has reversed a $64 million judgment against Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. in the latest ruling in a long-running dispute related to primary and excess policies that Utica Mutual Insurance Co. issued to a...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska recently granted a defendant’s motion to compel arbitration despite a plaintiff’s claims that she had never seen or signed the employment agreement containing the...more
The First Circuit has affirmed the confirmation of a FINRA award over an appellant’s claim that the arbitrators erred by, among other things, not holding an investment firm liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior....more
The Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the confirmation of an arbitration award in a dispute involving a contract to obtain signatures for a Florida solar energy ballot initiative over claims that the prevailing party engaged...more
3/27/2020
/ American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Ballot Measures ,
Contract Disputes ,
Florida ,
Fraud ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Solar Energy
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York recently denied an insurer’s attempt to compel the court to change a credibility decision it rendered following a bench trial in reinsurance litigation between...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently compelled arbitration despite an insured’s claim that the operative arbitration clause was unconscionable because it required the arbitration panel to...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently refused to compel arbitration in a putative class action based on an arbitration clause a plaintiff agreed to on a third party’s website he used to book a...more
The First Circuit recently denied a corporation’s numerous arguments seeking to vacate an arbitration award in favor of the individual who sold an entity to the corporation. The court’s decision reflected the narrow review of...more
2/24/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Award Challenges ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Blocking Power ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Contract Disputes ,
Damages ,
Manifest Disregard ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Securities Transactions
The Court of Appeals of Nebraska has affirmed the dismissal of a claim under a reinsurance participation agreement based on lack of personal jurisdiction....more
2/24/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Forum Selection ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Participation Agreements ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Policy Terms ,
Reinsurance ,
Reinsurance Agreements
Recovering returns from reinsurance commissions can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor, at least when a former director of the agency that received the provisional commissions allegedly engages in a slew of activity to...more
The Ninth Circuit recently denied a motion to compel arbitration after concluding that an arbitration agreement “buried” in difficult to access terms for a smartphone app did not put users on constructive notice that they...more
1/28/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Browsewrap Agreement ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Constructive Notice ,
Contract Terms ,
Gambling ,
Mobile Apps ,
Motion to Compel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Smartphones ,
Statutory Violations ,
Terms of Use
The economy is strong. Unemployment continues to hover around 4%, the lowest it has been in decades. Yet there are growing concerns that a recession is coming.
Originally published in HR Daily Advisor....more
1/8/2020
/ Dow Jones ,
Economic Downturn ,
Employee Retention ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Financial Markets ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Labor Regulations ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Notice Requirements ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recessions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Triggering Event ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
WARN Act
The Connecticut Supreme Court will consider whether the parties to an arbitration agreement can circumvent Connecticut’s 30-day statutory deadline for filing an application to vacate an arbitration award by including in the...more
12/12/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
CT Supreme Court ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Statute of Limitations