Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: “Accidental Arbitration” -- A New Theory that Would Rein in Consumer Arbitration Clauses and the Scope of the FAA
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Discussion of Industry and Consumer Perspectives on Mass Arbitration
California Employment News: The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment
Podcast: California Employment News - The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment
#WorkforceWednesday: NLRB Focuses on Severance Agreements, Supreme Court Opens Overtime to HCEs, Ninth Circuit Rejects CA's Mandatory Arbitration Ban - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS Rules on PAGA, Fifth Circuit Rules on COVID-19 Under WARN, Illinois Expands Bereavement Leave - Employment Law This Week®
California Employment News: US Supreme Court “Viking River” Decision Brings PAGA Relief for CA Employers
#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC COVID-19 Charges Surge, NYC’s Pay Transparency Law, SCOTUS Considers PAGA - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: New Law on Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Claims, Cyber War Ramps Up, Salaried Nonexempt Status - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now VI-114-Banning Arbitration of Sexual Harassment/Assault Claims
Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
DE Under 3: OFCCP Contractor Portal & Request for Comments for Functional Affirmative Action Programs (FAAPs)
Employment Law This Week®: FAA Arguably Preempts California Law, New CA Employment Laws for 2020, CA Consumer Privacy Act Amended
A recent Fourth Circuit decision extends the trend of cases refusing to use federal statutes to invalidate arbitration agreements waiving the right to bring class claims in federal court. The statute at issue in Espin v....more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s decision to deny the plaintiff’s motion to compel arbitration, finding that the plaintiff was not an “aggrieved” party within the meaning of the Federal...more
Recent court decisions have raised the bar for enforceable arbitration provisions in website Terms of Service (ToS) agreements. E-commerce businesses must ensure their website architecture and ToS design meet current legal...more
On the 100th anniversary of the Federal Arbitration Act, it is worth recalling that the law was enacted in 1925 in response to what the U.S. Supreme Court later called, in its 2011 opinion in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion,...more
Bilateral arbitration is under increasing attack. While businesses evaluate whether and how to update their arbitration clauses in light of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's October decision in Heckman v. Live...more
The war against arbitration agreements continues apace. The latest volley comes from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Johnson v. Continental Finance Company, LLC, No. 23-2047 (4th Cir. Mar. 11, 2025). In...more
On March 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration in two class-action lawsuits. The decision potentially has far-reaching implications for the...more
Defending against numerous individual arbitrations that share common factual and legal issues can cost companies significant time and money. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that such arbitrations...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its first published opinion addressing mass arbitration on February 28, 2025, following the court’s decision in Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment, et al., 120 F.4th 670...more
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are continuing to aggressively pursue mass arbitrations in privacy litigation. The latest challenge came when Judge Beth Labson Freeman in the Northern District of California ruled last month that...more
On February 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of a petition to compel individual arbitration against Starz Entertainment, LLC. The court held that the plaintiff, who...more
On February 12, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an important decision in Porteous v. Flowers Foods, Inc. regarding the enforceability of class and collective action waivers contained in...more
In a decision with potentially wide-ranging implications, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s decision to deny a national bank’s motion to compel arbitration, finding that amendments to the...more
On January 27, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a significant opinion holding that the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) does not prohibit the enforcement of arbitration...more
For the past decade, many courts have found class action waivers in consumer contracts to be valid and enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act. However, recently, the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh...more
For over three decades, arbitration has offered an efficient and cost-effective mechanism for resolving consumer disputes. Companies across a variety of industries, including telecommunications, retail and the gig economy,...more
Earlier this year, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in Pace v. Hamilton Cove that class action waivers in consumer contracts that do not contain an arbitration clause (i.e., a stand-alone class action waiver) are not per se...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
In Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., a panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision refusing to enforce the Ticketmaster arbitration provision in a purported consumer antitrust class action brought...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
On August 14, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania decided an arbitration provision was valid and enforceable in a class action regarding interest rates against a lender. The plaintiffs had filed a...more
Join us for the latest episode of Financial Services Focus as Andy Demko and Archis Parasharami discuss how consumer arbitration became popular among U.S. businesses in response to class actions from the late 90s onward. 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
Recently, the Second Circuit became the latest circuit refusing to enforce individual arbitration of an ERISA class action, joining the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits. The Ninth Circuit, by contrast, has held that class...more