The U.S. Supreme Court has held unanimously in Smith v. Spizzirri that when a district court finds that a lawsuit involves an arbitrable dispute and a party has requested a stay of the court proceedings pending arbitration,...more
Professor Jeff Sovern, who recently joined the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law faculty, has recently blogged about a forthcoming Study by academicians at other institutions that will be published in...more
We previously wrote about a Ninth Circuit appeal dealing with the use of bellwether procedures to resolve mass arbitration claims brought by thousands of customers against Verizon Wireless. That appeal remains pending and is...more
8/15/2023
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Bellwether Verdicts ,
California ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Motion to Compel ,
Oral Argument ,
SCOTUS ,
Sherman Act ,
Verizon
We previously blogged about Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that individual employee claims under California’s Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) are subject to...more
7/21/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Article III ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Uber ,
Viking River Cruises ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that an appeal of the denial of a motion to compel arbitration automatically stays lower court proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal. The decision in Coinbase,...more
6/26/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Automatic Stay ,
Coinbase ,
Coinbase Inc v Bielski ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Griggs v Provident Disc Co ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Motion to Compel ,
Online Platforms ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether an appeal of the denial of a motion to compel arbitration automatically stays proceedings in the lower court pending the outcome of the appeal, or whether the lower...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has once again confirmed that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts incompatible state laws that preclude contracting parties from controlling which claims are subject to arbitration. Ruling in...more
6/20/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
For the second time in two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a company seeking to compel individual arbitration of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action claims. In Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court today held that waiver of the right to arbitrate does not require a showing that the other party was prejudiced. The unanimous opinion by Justice Kagan in Morgan v. Sundance reversed the Eighth...more
Ruling on an important Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) procedural issue that has divided the circuit courts, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the “look-through” approach often used in determining whether federal...more
For the second time in two years, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts California law (the “McGill Rule”) which invalidates arbitration agreements that waive the...more
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc. to decide a question that has divided the federal circuit courts and state supreme courts: “whether a provision...more
6/18/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Certiorari ,
Contract Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Henry Schein Inc v Archer and White Sales Inc ,
Judicial Review ,
Motion to Compel ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Wholly Groundless Doctrine
After denying the defendants’ petitions for panel and en banc rehearing in the Blair v. Rent-a-Center appeals, the Ninth Circuit has granted their motions to stay the issuance of the Court’s mandates for 90 days pending the...more
1/31/2020
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
En Banc Review ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Judicial Review ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
The McGill Rule
In an important ruling that further narrows the circumstances in which class arbitration will be permitted, the Supreme Court today held that under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)...more
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 15 dealt a blow to employers in transportation industries, ruling that those workers—including those classified as independent contractors—are exempt from the Federal...more
1/18/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS
Deciding an important gateway arbitration issue that has divided the circuits, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires courts to enforce arbitration agreements that delegate questions...more
1/10/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Contract Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Henry Schein Inc v Archer and White Sales Inc ,
Judicial Review ,
Motion to Compel ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Wholly Groundless Doctrine
An Executive Order issued by Washington Governor Jay Inslee on June 12, 2018 seeks to rebuff the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Epic Systems LLC v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (May 21, 2018)...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that employers can lawfully require employees to resolve employment disputes through individual arbitration rather than by joining other employees in class or collective actions....more
5/23/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that should further clarify the circumstances in which class arbitration can be required. The question presented in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela is "[w]hether the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument yesterday in three cases—NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, and Ernst & Young, et al. v. Morris—to resolve whether arbitration provisions in employment agreements...more
Emphasizing that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts state laws that "single out arbitration agreements for disfavored treatment," the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the Kentucky Supreme Court's refusal to enforce...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide an important issue that has deeply divided the Courts of Appeals—are arbitration provisions in employment agreements that waive an employee's right to bring or participate in class...more
1/16/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Case Consolidation ,
Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
NLRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 7
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Campbell-Ewald Company v. Gomez that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of complete relief does not moot a plaintiff's individual claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third...more
4/8/2016
/ Article III ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk ,
Mootness ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement Offer ,
Standing ,
TCPA
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an unaccepted Rule 68 settlement offer does not moot a class action even when the offer would provide the named plaintiff with complete individual relief. The decision in Campbell-Ewald...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an unaccepted Rule 68 settlement offer does not moot a class action even when the offer would provide the named plaintiff with complete individual relief. The decision in Campbell-Ewald...more