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
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
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
In a decision substantively the same as the now-withdrawn opinion entered on January 20, 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit once again affirmed denial of a non-signatory’s motion to compel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
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
In Shelton v. Comcast Corp., No. 20-1763, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10790 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 21, 2021), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Comcast’s motion to compel arbitration under the terms...more
The global pandemic has brought about countless changes, including, for many households, increased reliance on online retail and delivery services, such as Amazon. When consumers sign up for these services or place their...more
In a dispute over Uber’s alleged failure to provide a wheelchair-accessible ride-sharing option in New Orleans, the District Court held that, under California law, plaintiffs were not equitably estopped from avoiding...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
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
On June 1, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous opinion regarding the relationship between domestic equitable estoppel and the enforcement of arbitration agreements. In GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS,...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
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court order denying the plaintiff’s motion to compel arbitration against two non-signatories to the relevant contract. The plaintiff was issued a credit card by defendant...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