Arbitration agreements often seem straightforward—until they unexpectedly bind parties who never signed them. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision in Various Insurers v. General...more
Tell me if you have heard this one before: ten companies are sued by a former employee as “joint employers”, even though the employee technically worked for, and signed a binding arbitration agreement with, only one of them....more
Frequently, employment arbitration agreements are written with the intent to apply to future disputes between an employee, the employer and the employer’s parent and sister companies....more
Employees who sign an arbitration agreement with one company cannot avoid arbitration with related defendant-companies by arguing they were not parties to the agreement. The California Court of Appeal held that claims against...more
Departing from the ruling in Soltero v. Precise Distribution earlier this year, the California Court of Appeal in the Second District in Gonzalez v. Nowhere Beverly Hills LLC, created a split of authority regarding an alleged...more
In Ice Rak, LLC v. Rita’s Franchise Co., LLC, the Court enforced an arbitration agreement against a non-signatory of the same agreement because courts will consider the significance of the franchisees’ actions and...more
A Florida district court granted a motion to stay court proceedings pending arbitration between a franchisor and a third-party, non-signatory to a franchise agreement, containing an arbitration clause....more
In a recent case of first impression in Nevada, the Nevada Supreme Court found en banc that a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement may compel another nonsignatory to arbitrate...more
Interactive Brokers LLC filed an action in the Southern District of New York seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against an arbitration proceeding initiated by a group of non-signatories to an agreement between...more
Paychex Inc. had entered into an agreement to provide a company, Dan-Gulf Shipping Inc., with payroll-related services. The agreement contained an arbitration clause governed by the rules of the American Arbitration...more
Kim Kardashian and Tiger Woods are international celebrities, and they have something else in common. Both have been involved in disputes regarding arbitrating with nonsignatories to an arbitration agreement. The idea of...more
The California Court of Appeals for the Second District, creating a split of authority among California’s appellate courts, held that Ford Motor Co. did not have the right to enforce an arbitration provision in a sales...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
In a case involving an unorthodox procedural posture, a federal court in Oregon determined that nonsignatory franchisee owners are not subject to a franchise agreement arbitration provision. Goergen v. Black Rock Coffee B.,...more
A novel question arose over the past few years in residential construction law as to whether minors were subject to the contractual provisions in their parents’ purchase or construction contract. The contract typically has a...more
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated and remanded an order concluding that a party was not bound by an arbitration award after concluding that the district court failed to consider whether that party may have...more
Closely-held business owners often hope to avoid the costs and delays of litigation by including arbitration provisions in their partnership, shareholder, and operating agreements. Things can get tricky, though, when...more
Defendants appealed a California federal district court order denying their motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiff’s claims for trade secret misappropriation, common law misappropriation, and unfair competition. The...more
Plaintiffs, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Outrider Management LLC, filed suit in New York state court claiming the defendants conspired to obtain a fraudulent international arbitral award against them of nearly $500 million....more
The Second Circuit recently affirmed the denial of motions to compel arbitration filed by, inter alia, the Trump Corp. and a nonparty from whom the plaintiffs sought discovery....more
Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC (MVP) contracted with U.S. Trinity Energy Services LLC for the construction and installation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline across property in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Trinity...more
In a recent Commercial Division case, Justice Elizabeth H. Emerson was asked to determine whether certain parties were bound by an arbitration clause and whether that arbitration clause applied to a particular controversy—two...more
Can a non-signatory to an arbitration agreement compel international arbitration under the doctrine of equitable estoppel? Last year, in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, 140 S. Ct. 1637...more
In a decision substantively the same as the now-withdrawn opinion entered on January 20, 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit once again affirmed denial of a non-signatory’s motion to compel arbitration. Setty...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order withdrawing its opinion in Setty v. Shrinivas Sugandhalaya, where the Court affirmed the denial of a non-signatory’s bid to arbitrate its claims for trademark...more