Breaking news from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit involving the case of RJ's International Trading, LLC vs. Crown Castle South, LLC. The court has certified a pivotal question to the Florida...more
In this appeal, the Eleventh Appellate District affirmed the trial court’s decision to grant the defendant summary judgment, finding, among other things, that equitable estoppel was a defense, not affirmative cause of action....more
A joint venture company was able to enforce a joint venture agreement despite not being a direct party or signatory to it. Canon Medical Systems, a manufacturer of medical imaging equipment, entered into an agreement with...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
Commercial leases often contain attorney fee provisions allowing a party who prevails in litigation to recover attorney fees from the losing party. Can those attorney fee provisions apply to third parties — outsiders to...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
California law is not typically seen as amiable to compelling employees to arbitrate their claims. However, in Franklin v. Community Regional Medical Center, ___ F.3d___(9th Cir. 2021), the Ninth Circuit panel upheld a motion...more
When all was said and done, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 1, 2020 in effect that the New York Convention (i.e., the U.N. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards) and the...more
Sometimes compelling arbitration is simple. If the parties to a dispute signed an agreement to arbitrate, a signatory would normally be able to use that agreement as a basis to move to compel arbitration pursuant to the...more
“Read before you sign”, is what we counsel our clients, since we all know that courts will bind one contractually to a signed agreement even if not read. But, what if you never signed the agreement? Can you still be bound by...more
Can your business be compelled to defend an international arbitration brought by an entity with whom you never agreed to arbitrate? On June 1, 2020, a unanimous United States Supreme Court answered this question in the...more
The ongoing Kout Food saga provides a salutary reminder that difficult issues can sometimes arise when parties choose different systems for the substantive law of their contractual relationship and the curial law of the seat...more
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
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a non-signatory to an agreement requiring arbitration for disputes might be able to compel arbitration under state law equitable estoppel arguments. The...more
On June 1, 2020 the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in GE Energy Power Conversion Fr. SAS, Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, No. 18-1048, 2020 WL 2814297 (U.S. June 1, 2020), holding that the...more
On June 1, 2020, the United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision by Justice Thomas, held that allowing non-signatories to an arbitration agreement to compel arbitration under the Convention on the Recognition and...more
On June 1, the U.S. Supreme Court in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, 590 U.S. ___ (June 1, 2020) unanimously held that a non-party may enforce an international arbitration agreement...more
For the first time in six years, the U.S. Supreme Court focused its attention upon the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958, commonly referred to as the “New York Convention,” to...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on June 1 in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS, Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, holding that, in some circumstances, even nonsignatories to an agreement may invoke...more
All three defendants were non-signatories to the underlying contract containing the arbitration agreement they sought to enforce. They each contended that they were entitled to enforce the arbitration agreement, despite their...more
The international arbitration community has watched the case of GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS, Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC with great interest. At issue is whether a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement...more
In cases involving contracts between U.S. companies, courts frequently allow a nonsignatory to a contract to enforce an arbitration provision in the contract against a signatory when the signatory to the contract relies on...more
On June 1, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, holding that the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the Convention)...more