Author Archives: Robert Harris

Fredy Sosa v. Onfido, Inc. provided an Illinois District Court with the obligation to opine whether a company engaged by an online marketplace to verify users’ identities could compel arbitration of claims brought by marketplace customers that their biometric data was being unlawfully stored. The court’s answer was “no.” In this putative class action, usersContinue reading “Biometric Company Cannot Compel Arbitration Of Claims That It Unlawfully Retained Individuals’ Data”

Retired federal judge and current JAMS neutral Diane Welsh has this article in The Legal Intelligencer discussing her experiences with virtual mediation during COVID-19 and offering her view that “the advantages of virtual mediation suggest that it will be deeply embedded in the ADR landscape long after the pandemic is over.”

The New Jersey Law Journal‘s Editorial Board has this article, discussing the New Jersey Appellate Division’s decision in Knight v. Vivint Solar, __ N.J. Super. __, 2020 N.J. Super. LEXIS 240 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 2, 2020), offering the following takeaways to contract draftspersons: “(a) When drafting, say it once and say it well,Continue reading ““Computer Signatures and Arbitration Contracts May Not Mix””

The Southern District of New York has held that a purported class action against a health club by a member whose access was precluded due to Covid is subject to arbitration. In Jampol v. Blink Holdings, Inc, the court held that even though the Membership Agreement did not provide for arbitration, the Terms of UseContinue reading “Arbitration Provision Contained In Terms Of Use But Not Membership Agreement Nonetheless Mandate Arbitration Of Health Club Dispute”

“The question presented to Chief Judge Colleen McMahon was, essentially, whether the pre-filing investigations by an attorney for a patent owner worked to compel arbitration?” This was the issue facing the court, as explained by Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog, Inc., in this article discussing the Southern District’s decision in Perry Street Software, Inc. v. JediContinue reading ““Pre-Suit Investigation by Patentee’s Attorney Does Not Compel Arbitration Despite Website TOS””

Quincy Bird of Carlton Fields has authored this article, available through JD Supra, discussing the Arkansas District Court’s decision in Patterson v. American Income Life Ins. Co. Attorney Bird asks at the outset “Has the judicial preference for presuming the survivability of arbitration clauses governing workplace disputes reached canonical status?” He suggests that perhaps itContinue reading ““Arbitration Provision Survives Agent Termination””

Kevin Brodehl of Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP discusses the California Appellate Court’s decision in Yao v. Pro-Management Consulting, finding that a California statute providing that a  “person that becomes a member of a limited liability company is deemed to assent to the operating agreement,” does not serve to constitute an agreement to the operating agreement’s arbitrationContinue reading ““Does an Arbitration Clause Apply to Your LLC Dispute?””

David Reif offers this cautionary tale in his blog post discussing the Third Circuit’s decision in Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Group v. New England Reinsurance Corporation, 2020 U. S. App. LEXIS 40342 (3rd Cir. Dec. 24, 2020): “When you move to confirm an award, if you believe that the case might settle while the application isContinue reading “Arbitration Confidentiality”

Heather Perlberg of Bloomberg has this article, which begins with this tag line: “As it buys up medical practices, private equity is popularizing a favored Wall Street cost-cutting tactic—and stripping patients of rights.”

The New Jersey Chancery Court has issued a decision that extends the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision in Flanzman v. Jenny Craig Inc. Flanzman held enforceable an arbitration provision that failed to provide certain specifics regarding the arbitration provision to be followed because the contract language made abundantly clear that “final and binding arbitrationContinue reading “New Jersey Court Holds Arbitration Agreement Is Unenforceable Since It Fails To Disavow The Parties’ Right To Proceed In Court”