It happens every so often: someone signs an agreement to arbitrate legal claims, the agreement has a solid clause delegating arbitrability issues to an arbitrator, and then a member of that person’s family files a claim in...more
A recent opinion from a federal court in North Carolina emphasizes how difficult it is to succeed on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit arising under the FCRA. Rejecting a challenge to a plaintiff’s standing and the timeliness of...more
Recently, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s decision finding a delegation clause in an arbitration agreement to be both procedurally and substantively unconscionable and, moreover, that...more
In the long-awaited newest chapter of case law discussing the validity and enforceability of arbitration clauses and class action waivers, the Ninth Circuit on October 28, 2024, dealt a setback, though not a fatal blow, to...more
On October 28, 2024, the Ninth Circuit struck a mass arbitration agreement as unconscionable and unenforceable under California law in Heckman v. Live Nation Ent., Inc., No. 23-55770. The three-judge panel affirmed the...more
On October 28, 2024, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling in Heckman v. Live Nation, finding Live Nation’s Ticketmaster arbitration agreement unconscionable and therefore unenforceable based on their terms...more
The district court for the Northern District of California recently denied a defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and, in so ruling, found that a bellwether provision related to mass arbitrations was unconscionable. Avia...more
The rules relating to delegated authority are complex. A taxpayer is well advised to ensure that the scope of a closing agreement the taxpayer signs is what the taxpayer expects, and that an IRS official who signs the...more
Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in Smith v. Spizzirri, 601 U.S. 472 (2024) and Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, 144 S. Ct. 1186 (2024) provide important guidance for companies utilizing arbitration clauses in their...more
When there are two conflicting contracts—one requiring a court to address whether a case should be decided by arbitration or court action, and another requiring an arbitrator to address that issue—who decides which contract...more
On May 23, 2024, the United States Supreme Court held that if parties’ agreements conflict as to whether a dispute is subject to arbitration, then a court (not an arbitrator) must decide which contract controls. Coinbase,...more
SCOTUS has once again clarified a court’s power to compel arbitration, this time in the context of conflicting delegation clauses. In doing so, the Court aptly acknowledged its standing tri-layered analysis of arbitral...more
The final text of the amendments to the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD)—known as “AIFMD II”—was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on March 26, 2024, and will enter into force on...more
Noting the court was deciding, as a matter of first impression, “what a party must do to specifically challenge a delegation provision and what a court may consider when evaluating this challenge,” the Ninth Circuit Court of...more
When parties are battling over whether a court should compel a putative class action to arbitration, the outcome often turns on who decides the “gateway” arbitrability issues of whether a valid arbitration agreement exists...more
The United States Supreme Court recently granted a petition for certiorari to review a Ninth Circuit decision and resolve the issue of whether, when parties enter into an arbitration agreement with a delegation clause, the...more
On November 3, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in 3 cases: Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, No. 23-3: This case concerns the enforceability of “delegation clauses” in arbitration agreements. A...more
A federal court in Tennessee recently granted a franchisor’s motion to compel arbitration, including as to questions of arbitrability, in response to a 15 count complaint brought by 54 separate franchisees. Anthony v. Van...more
The Nevada Supreme Court recently reversed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration, explaining that the plaintiff’s arguments that the contract at issue was illegal were not a valid basis to deny arbitration because...more
Effective August 1, amendments (the 2023 amendments) to the Delaware General Corporation Law (DGCL) further update the framework under which a company's board of directors may delegate its authority to grant equity incentive...more
Parties to an arbitration agreement sometimes choose to include a delegation clause, which is a provision that delegates to the arbitrator—rather than a court—gateway questions of arbitrability, such as whether the agreement...more
The District of Massachusetts’s recent decision in Fairfield v. DCD Auto. Holdings, Inc., No. 22-cv-11977, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109463 (D. Mass. June 26, 2023) serves as a key reminder for businesses not only to have...more
A multitude of questions over who must approve the grant of equity awards frequently arise when designing equity compensation programs. Do shareholders need to approve the grant? Is approval from the Board of Directors...more
In David Suski v. Coinbase, Inc., et al., the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court order denying defendant Coinbase, Inc.’s (Coinbase) motion to compel arbitration, concluding that issues surrounding a forum selection...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently issued a precedential decision on what it called “the mind-bending issue of arbitration about arbitration.” Relying on an arbitration agreement between the plaintiff and...more