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Arbitration: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Fairness Act Ruckus. (April 15.)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's tort reform advocacy arm, the Institute for Legal Reform, launches a counteroffensive against the support by Public Citizen of the Arbitration Fairness Act now pending before the U.S. Congress.
Arbitration: U.S. Supreme Court Today Rejects Contracting for Heightened Judicial Review in Arbitration. (March 25.)
Today's Hall Street Associates L.L.C. V. Mattel Inc. decision bars parties from writing contracts that allow court review for arbitration awards. It also opens a door, ever so slightly, to challenges to arbitration awards based on "manifest disregard of the law"--a longstanding case-derived standard that judges have used in striking arbitration awards.
Arbitration: U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear a Case on the Federal Arbitration Act's Jurisdictional Reach. (March 17.)
The Supreme Court agreed to hear its fourth arbitration case for the 2007-2008 term this morning. The case, Vaden v. Discover Bank, et al., No. 07-773, invokes the Federal Arbitration Act's jurisdiction in the touchy context of class-action claims. The petitioner pointed to a U.S. Circuit Court split on the issue of "look-through" jurisdiction, which in the case allowed a credit-card provider to invoke the FAA to compel arbitration in federal court, after the case had been filed in Maryland state court.
Arbitration: Make that Three--Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Another Arbitration Case. (Feb. 25.)
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a third arbitration case in its 2007-2008 term. Last week, it granted a writ of certiorari in 14 Penn Plaza LLC, et al., v. Pyett, et al. (Docket No. 07-581)(writ granted Feb. 19, 2008). The issue is whether an arbitration clause in a collective-bargaining agreement that waives employees' rights to file statutory discrimination claims is enforceable.
Arbitration: Supreme Court, Deciding the Judge Alex Case, Backs FAA Over State Admin Processes. (Feb. 20.)
The U.S. Supreme Court today set aside a claim that California law requires the state's labor commissioner to hear a case before it was arbitrated. The ruling in Preston v. Ferrer, No. 06-1463 is a strong boost for the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., and a loss for Fox Television personality Alex Ferrer, who decides cases on his daily show as Judge Alex.
Arbitration: A Link to the Transcript for Today's Supreme Court Arbitration Argument . . . (Jan. 14, 2008.)
The U.S. Supreme Court has posted the transcript from today's argument in the California preemption case, Preston v. Ferrer No. 06-1463, which will determine whether an employment dispute under the state's Talent Agencies Act will be arbitrated, or go to the state labor commissioner. See This Link. For more, see Alternatives' 1/08 cover story here: http://www.cpradr.org/alt_scrn.asp?M=5.3.
Arbitration: The Nov. 7 Argument Wasn't Enough! U.S. Supreme Court Asks for More Hall Street Associates Briefing. (Nov. 16.)
The U.S. Supreme Court today asked for supplementary briefs on Hall Street Associates v. Mattel, 06-989, an arbitration case argued on Nov. 7. The justices are seeking authority beyond the Federal Arbitration Act that could support upholding an agreement to have an arbitration award reviewed with heightened scrutiny, which would effectively supplement the FAA's usual fraud limits on reviewing awards.