Category Archives: Uncategorized

David Reif has the following interesting post in his November 13, 2020 “ADR Highlights”: “Fintech Fund, F.L.P. v. Horne, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 35418 (5th Cir.) (Nov. 10, 2020) addresses how a court may reconcile potentially dueling arbitration and forum selection clauses. Fintech licensed its biometric technology to its U.K. affiliate, CrossVerify. Horne, the defendantContinue reading “Reconciling Arbitration And Forum Selection Clauses”

For those addressing the issue of waiver of a contractual right to arbitrate, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas’s decision in Spark Connected, LLC v. Semtech Corporation is worth a read. The court’s thorough decision addresses all the major touchstones: pleadings that fail to reference arbitration, a seven month delay, theContinue reading “Court’s Waiver Opinion Provides Guidance To Counsel”

Shepard Davidson of Burns & Levinson LLP discusses the Massachusetts Court of Appeals decision in Boursiquot v. United Healthcare Services of Delaware, in this article, available through Lexology, which concludes with an admonition that “if in-house counsel want to have arbitration for reasons of confidentiality, it is critical to include in their arbitration clauses plainContinue reading ““Be Sure Your Arbitration Clause Clearly States Who Will Decide Whether a Dispute Is Arbitrable””

“You represent a business owner who ends up arbitrating a dispute with a supplier.  After spending tons of time and money preparing for the 5-day evidentiary hearing, you look up to hear snoring from the arbitrator – he fell asleep for part of the proceedings!  Surely you’ll be able to get the result vacated by the circuit court onContinue reading ““Arbitrator Snooze … You Lose? A Reminder to Raise Specific Objections to an Arbitrator First, or Risk Forfeiting Them on Appeal””

A U.S. District Court in Colorado determined it would be appropriate to permit the plaintiff to pursue discovery prior to the determination of defendant’s motion to dismiss the case in favor of arbitration. In The i4 Group Consulting, LLC v. Scaled Agile, Inc., No. 20-cv-01855-DDD-NRN (D.Colo.)(November 9, 2020) plaintiff acknowledged the existence of a signedContinue reading “Court Stays Judicial Discovery Pending Decision On Whether Parties Should Arbitrate”

In Brody v. Culturesource, No. 20-11663 (D.Mich.) (November 9, 2020), a U.S. District Court refused to compel an employee to arbitrate claims against her former employer, finding that an electronically signed employment application did not constitute an enforceable waiver of her right to a judicial forum. According to the court: “The application was generated byContinue reading “Court Finds Signed Arbitration Agreement Insufficient To Constitute Waiver Of Employee’s Right To A Judicial Forum”

In this article available through JD Supra, Victoria Clark of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner posits as follows: “The governing law of an arbitration clause is important because it is law that is applied to determine any disputes over the validity, scope or interpretation of the agreement to arbitrate.   For example, if there is a disputeContinue reading ““What law governs your arbitration clause? You decide.””

JD Supra has published this article by Eric Johnson of Hudson Cook, LLP discussing the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision in Sutton v. David Stanley Chevrolet, Inc., 2020 Okla. LEXIS 94 (Okla. October 13, 2020). The article sets the stage as follows: “The buyer and a dealership signed a purchase agreement containing a dispute resolution clauseContinue reading ““Dealership’s Finance Manager Had Duty to Inform Buyer of Inconspicuous Arbitration Clause in Purchase Agreement Due to False Impression that Buyer’s Signature Was Only to Verify Information””

By a 4-2 decision, the West Virginia Supreme Court held in Dan Ryan Builders, Inc. v. Williams that a real estate developer waived its right to compel arbitration of claims brought by purchasers of lots and homes alleging “development-wide soil movement, which caused damage to respondents’ properties.” Relying on stipulations signed by the parties, theContinue reading “Divided Court Holds That Developer Waived Its Right To Arbitrate”

In Burgess v. Johnson, the Tenth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decison refusing to impose upon trust beneficiaries an obligation to arbitrate claims that the trustee wrongfully took trust assets and spent trust money. The trustee argued that he could compel arbitration because the trust instrument authorized the trustee “[t]o compromise, contest, submit to arbitrationContinue reading “Trust Agreement Did Not Empower Trustee To Compel Arbitration Of Claims He Breached Fiduciary Duties”