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Expanding Access To Remedies Through E-Court Initiatives, Amy J. Schmitz Jan 2019

Expanding Access To Remedies Through E-Court Initiatives, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Virtual courthouses, artificial intelligence (AI) for determining cases, and algorithmic analysis for all types of legal issues have captured the interest of judges, lawyers, educators, commentators, business leaders, and policymakers. Technology has become the “fourth party” in dispute resolution through the growing field of online dispute resolution (ODR), which includes the use of a broad spectrum of technologies in negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and other dispute resolution processes. Indeed, ODR shows great promise for expanding access to remedies, or justice. In the United States and abroad, however, ODR has mainly thrived within e-commerce companies like eBay and Alibaba, while most public …


The European Succession Regulation And The Arbitration Of Trust Disputes, S. I. Strong Jul 2018

The European Succession Regulation And The Arbitration Of Trust Disputes, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Over the last few decades, U.S. citizens have become increasingly mobile, with significant numbers of individuals living, working, and investing abroad. Estate planning has become equally international, generating ever-larger numbers of cross-border succession cases. While these sorts of developments are welcome, they require lawyers to appreciate and anticipate the various ways that the laws of different jurisdictions can interact. One of the most important recent developments in international succession law comes out of the European Union. While the European Succession Regulation may initially appear applicable only to nationals of E. U. Member States, U.S. citizens can also be affected by …


Anti-Suit Injunctions In Judicial And Arbitral Procedures In The United States, S. I. Strong Jun 2018

Anti-Suit Injunctions In Judicial And Arbitral Procedures In The United States, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

One of the prevailing myths of transnational litigation is that U.S. courts are not only ready but extremely willing to use anti­suit injunctions to preclude parties from filing or pursuing pro­ceedings elsewhere in the world. In fact, anti-suit injunctions (sometimes referred to as "stays" of litigation) are considered an extraordinary remedy in the United States, and the general rule is that "parallel proceedings on the same in personam claim should ordinarily be allowed to proceed simultaneously, at least until judgment is reached in one which can be pled as res judicata in the other." While this approach, often referred to …


Sharia Law And International Commercial Arbitration: The Need For An Intra-Islamic Arbitral Institution, George Khoukaz Jan 2017

Sharia Law And International Commercial Arbitration: The Need For An Intra-Islamic Arbitral Institution, George Khoukaz

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The goal of this Comment is to address the relationship between Middle-Eastern Islamic countries with the rest of the world from an international commercial arbitration perspective. To do that, we will first briefly address the historic sectarian divide between the two main sects in Islam—Sunna and Shia—which will allow the reader to gain a better understanding of the theoretical differences within Islam, resulting in different legal systems and competing political interests. Section II will also briefly address the modern history of both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) because these two countries are …


Arbitration Clause Issues In Sharing Economy Contracts, Carissa Laughlin Jan 2017

Arbitration Clause Issues In Sharing Economy Contracts, Carissa Laughlin

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Comment will explicate the successes and failures of sharing economy arbitration clauses, and discuss the future legal climate for companies like Airbnb and Uber. First, this Comment will give an overview of the sharing economy and its current legal implications, then it will provide an overview of arbitration clauses and their success in sharing economy contract agreements, and finally, it will evaluate the potential advantages and disadvantages of arbitration clauses in the future based on a current labor and employment suits pending against Uber.


Arbitration For The “Afflicted” — The Viability Of Arbitrating Defamation And Libel Claims Considering Ipso’S Pilot Program, Emma Altheide Jan 2017

Arbitration For The “Afflicted” — The Viability Of Arbitrating Defamation And Libel Claims Considering Ipso’S Pilot Program, Emma Altheide

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Filing suit for defamation or libel is signing up for an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. If it proceeds to trial, this type of litigation comes with high costs for both sides: potentially millions of dollars in legal fees, and years of court battles. Average judgments against defendant publishers are high, often because uncapped punitive damages are available. Plaintiffs may wait years to receive a judgment, only to spend a significant portion on attorneys’ fees. Given the inefficiency of the courts in handling defamation and libel claims, how might an alternative forum provide for a quicker process, with lower costs for …


The English Inheritance—What The First American Colonists Knew Of Mediation And Arbitration, Derek Roebuck Jul 2016

The English Inheritance—What The First American Colonists Knew Of Mediation And Arbitration, Derek Roebuck

Journal of Dispute Resolution

It seems fair to assume that the first American colonists took with them attitudes and practices from home, including the ways in which they routinely resolved disputes. For example, on November 11, 1647 the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony authorized the purchase of Edward Coke’s Reports, First and Second Institutes and Book of Entries, “to the end we may have the better light for making and proceedings about laws.” But does that mean it was natural then for parties with differences to look to litigation for an answer? This Article provides ample evidence of a preference for other …


Seeking Justice For Grandma: Challenging Mandatory Arbitration In Nursing Home Contracts, Andi Alper Jul 2016

Seeking Justice For Grandma: Challenging Mandatory Arbitration In Nursing Home Contracts, Andi Alper

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Comment advocates against the use of mandatory arbitration in nursing home admission contracts and discusses various legal theories available to refute such clauses. Part II discusses mandatory arbitration in general and its use in nursing home admission contracts. Part III summarizes some of the common arguments made in favor of and against arbitration in nursing home admission contracts. Finally, Part IV addresses how courts analyze these agreements and possible approaches to avoid arbitration of disputes arising out of the nursing home contract.


Professor Roebuck’S Lessons For Mediators, Arbitrators, And Historians, Douglas E. Abrams Jul 2016

Professor Roebuck’S Lessons For Mediators, Arbitrators, And Historians, Douglas E. Abrams

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Professor Roebuck’s biographical essay on Nathaniel Bacon, the centerpiece of his historical article, delivers a timely lesson about how adherence to solid personal standards can elevate a mediator or arbitrator above the rest of the pack. With an eye toward future national direction, the article closes by summoning American historians to chronicle the development of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) since the nation’s colonial days.


Symposium Introduction: Beyond The Faa: Arbitration Procedure, Practice, And Policy In Historical Perspective, Carli N. Conklin Apr 2016

Symposium Introduction: Beyond The Faa: Arbitration Procedure, Practice, And Policy In Historical Perspective, Carli N. Conklin

Faculty Publications

The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), enacted in 1925, provides a framework for how we think about arbitration procedure, practice, and policy in the United States today. Yet, the FAA, and the interpretive lens it provides, are relatively new on the horizon, historically speaking


Realizing Rationality: An Empirical Assessment Of International Commercial Mediation, S. I. Strong Jan 2016

Realizing Rationality: An Empirical Assessment Of International Commercial Mediation, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

For decades, parties, practitioners and policymakers have believed arbitration to be the best if not only realistic means of resolving cross-border business disputes. However, the hegemony of international commercial and investment arbitration is currently being challenged in light of rising concerns about increasing formalism in arbitration. As a result, the international community has sought to identify other ways of resolving these types of complex commercial matters, with mediation reflecting the most viable option. Numerous public and private entities have launched initiatives to encourage mediation in international commercial and investment disputes, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) …


For Eschewing Of Trouble And Exorbitant Expense: Arbitration In The Early Modern British Isles Symposium, Margo Todd Jan 2016

For Eschewing Of Trouble And Exorbitant Expense: Arbitration In The Early Modern British Isles Symposium, Margo Todd

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The history of binding arbitration in British customary law is very long, and in scope, very broad. In Scotland and in England, in settings both urban and rural, commercial and ecclesiastical, and across a broad range of social estates, from craftsmen to lords, alewives to merchant princes, it had by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries become the default mechanism to avoid costly litigation, and to resolve disputes likely otherwise to end in bloodshed.1 It was often a device to avoid the courts, since litigation was always expensive and time-consuming; however, in a great number of cases it occurred in cooperation …


Constructions Of Arbitration's Informalism: Autonomy, Efficiency, And Justicesymposium, Hiro N. Aragaki Jan 2016

Constructions Of Arbitration's Informalism: Autonomy, Efficiency, And Justicesymposium, Hiro N. Aragaki

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In the wake of a recent three-part series by the New York Times, arbitration is now back in the eye of the storm. The leading critique of arbitration, especially in the consumer and employment space, is that it is unjust both in the sense that it does not comport with basic notions of procedural fairness and/or because it cannot be expected to produce outcomes we would consider substantively just. For example, procedure in arbitration is dictated largely by contract rather than by mandatory rules that have been vetted by public bodies entrusted with safeguarding procedural values. Arbitrators are not bound …


Beyond The Faa: Arbitration Procedure, Practice, And Policy In Historical Perspective Symposium: Introduction, Carli N. Conklin Jan 2016

Beyond The Faa: Arbitration Procedure, Practice, And Policy In Historical Perspective Symposium: Introduction, Carli N. Conklin

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The purpose of this symposium edition of the Journal of Dispute Resolution is to widen the focus of our present-day discourse on arbitration by exploring the broader histories of arbitration in America, considering not only what arbitration procedure, practice, and policy looked like in early America (and in the earlier legal, cultural, or religious systems from which American arbitration was adopted), but also how those broader histories might contribute to important discussions and developments in arbitration procedure, practice, and policy today. To that end, we brought together scholars in law and history whose combined works restore breadth and depth to …


The Historically Shifting Sands Of Reasons To Arbitrate Symposium, James Oldham Jan 2016

The Historically Shifting Sands Of Reasons To Arbitrate Symposium, James Oldham

Journal of Dispute Resolution

It is well established that for many centuries, arbitration has been a regular, even frequent, method of dispute settlement in the Western World. Derek Roebuck has done path breaking research demonstrating this in his recent book covering the middle ages (1154-1558)1 and in his contribution to this symposium, “The English Experience: What the First American Colonists Knew of Mediation and Arbitration.”2 My own work, with the excellent help of co-authors Henry Horwitz and Su Jin Kim, has explored English patterns from the late 17th century into the 1800s, also tracing the English approach into the American colonies and the early …


Arbitration And Elite Honour In Elizabethan England: A Case Study Of Bess Of Hardwick Symposium, Francis Calvert Boorman Jan 2016

Arbitration And Elite Honour In Elizabethan England: A Case Study Of Bess Of Hardwick Symposium, Francis Calvert Boorman

Journal of Dispute Resolution

During the 1580s, Queen Elizabeth I intervened in a marital dispute between two of her foremost subjects, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, commonly referred to as Bess of Hardwick. The Queen appointed several of her Privy Councillors to negotiate a reconciliation. These events provide a case study of the use of arbitration and mediation in resolving familial disputes among the elite of Elizabethan England, and their particular application by the Queen and her closest advisers. This article also highlights the importance of contemporary conceptions of gender and honor to dispute resolution.


A Variety Of State-Level Procedures, Practices, And Policies: Arbitration In Early America Symposium, Carli N. Conklin Jan 2016

A Variety Of State-Level Procedures, Practices, And Policies: Arbitration In Early America Symposium, Carli N. Conklin

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This article seeks to explore the history of arbitration more in depth by taking a close look at the historical procedures, practices, and policies of arbitration in three states: Kentucky, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Each state developed a complex system of arbitration that included multiple arbitration procedures drawn from English law. Each state had unique geographic, political, social, religious, or commercial conditions that influenced not only the development of arbitration in that state, but also arbitration practice and the policy goals surrounding its use. A closer look at arbitration in early America reveals that, rather than one history of American …


Exploring The Federal Arbitration Act Through The Lens Of History Symposium, Imre Stephen Szalai Jan 2016

Exploring The Federal Arbitration Act Through The Lens Of History Symposium, Imre Stephen Szalai

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The United States Arbitration Act (known today as the Federal Arbitration Act, or FAA) is a relatively short and deceptively cryptic statute. The heart of the statute, section 2, is one sentence, and this key provision simply declares that arbitration agreements are generally “valid, irrevocable, and enforceable.” There is not much traditional legislative history surrounding this statute because much of the development of the bill that became the FAA occurred through organizations outside of Congress, like the American Bar Association and the New York Chamber of Commerce.3 As a result, to understand the FAA at a deeper level, it is …


Ancient And Comely Order: The Use And Disuse Of Arbitration By New York Quakers Symposium, F. Peter Phillips Jan 2016

Ancient And Comely Order: The Use And Disuse Of Arbitration By New York Quakers Symposium, F. Peter Phillips

Journal of Dispute Resolution

From the late 17th century, the Religious Society of Friends ("Quakers") observed a method of resolving disputes arising within congregations that was scripturally based, and culminated in final and binding arbitration. The practice of Quaker arbitration gradually disappeared during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and few modern Quakers are even aware of it. This article traces that decline and notes similarities with mercantile arbitration. In both religious and mercantile arbitration, a defined community valued the goal of avoiding group disruption more than the goal of vindicating individual legal rights. In both cases, members of the community applied distinct …


The Latest Nfl Fumble: Using Its Commissioner As The Sole Arbitrator, Theresa Mullineaux Jan 2016

The Latest Nfl Fumble: Using Its Commissioner As The Sole Arbitrator, Theresa Mullineaux

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The National Football League (NFL) is the governing body of professional football in America and is led by Commissioner Roger Goodell who acts as the chief executive of the NFL overseeing all 32 NFL teams. Amongst his vast powers includes resolving disputes with “full, complete, and final jurisdiction to arbitrate any dispute between any player, coach, and/or other employee of any member of the League (or any combination thereof) and any member club or clubs.” The Commissioner’s ability to make binding decisions in these disputes is diminished by a clear conflict of interest. This must be changed. This Note will …


Introducing The 'New Handshake' To Expand Remedies And Revive Responsibility In Ecommerce, Amy J. Schmitz Jul 2015

Introducing The 'New Handshake' To Expand Remedies And Revive Responsibility In Ecommerce, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

There was a time when individuals would meet in person to make purchases and do deals. They would discuss the terms, assess the trustworthiness and character of their contracting partners, and conclude the deal with a handshake. The handshake helped ensure the enforcement of the deal without need for the rule of law or legal power. That handshake was one’s bond — it was a personal trust mark. With the emergence of eCommerce, however, that handshake has nearly disappeared along with the sense of responsibility it inspired. Accordingly, this article discusses how this has impacted consumers’ access to remedies regarding …


The Special Nature Of International Insurance And Reinsurance Arbitration: A Response To Professor Jerry, S. I. Strong Jul 2015

The Special Nature Of International Insurance And Reinsurance Arbitration: A Response To Professor Jerry, S. I. Strong

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.


Get The Best Of Both Worlds: Illusory Arbitration Agreements, Desiree Shay Jul 2015

Get The Best Of Both Worlds: Illusory Arbitration Agreements, Desiree Shay

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Note addresses the clauses in franchise-franchisee agreements that preserve the right for a franchisor to unilaterally alter the terms of arbitration after the franchise relationship has begun. A majority of courts, applying state contract law, have held that these clauses are unenforceable due to a lack of consideration, making the contract illusory. However, courts still come to different conclusions because each court has to follow state contract law. The United States Supreme Court’s holding on this issue might not be able to have full effect because the Federal Arbitration Act requires that courts rely on state law. The Seventh …


When Arbitration Agreement Provisions Time Travel: Illusory Promises And Continued At-Will Employment In Baker, Richard C. Byrd Apr 2015

When Arbitration Agreement Provisions Time Travel: Illusory Promises And Continued At-Will Employment In Baker, Richard C. Byrd

Missouri Law Review

First, this Note discusses the particular facts of the Baker case, including its procedural history and holding. Then, the history of salient cases and law is covered in three main areas related to Baker, specifically the concept of arbitrability, at-will employment’s status as effective consideration, and when courts find promises to be illusory. Following that, this Note summarizes the court’s decision in Baker and its lengthy and thorough dissent. Finally, this note discusses the significance of this case in relation to both the history of the topics involved and their application going forward.


International Arbitration, Judicial Education, And Legal Elites, Catherine A. Rogers Jan 2015

International Arbitration, Judicial Education, And Legal Elites, Catherine A. Rogers

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This essay sketches an account of how investment arbitration affects development of local legal institutions, in particular domestic courts. When investment arbitration is introduced into a local legal environment, it becomes integrated with international commercial arbitration, and often domestic arbitration. This integration occurs because the local economic elites, private law firms, and local businesses that deal with (or compete with) foreign investors and investment arbitration disputes also deal with international commercial matters, international commercial disputes, and domestic arbitration.


Arbitration Whack-A-Mole: The Federal Policy Favoring Arbitration Hammers The Rights Of Individual Employees, Spring E. Taylor Jan 2015

Arbitration Whack-A-Mole: The Federal Policy Favoring Arbitration Hammers The Rights Of Individual Employees, Spring E. Taylor

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In a country that protects the plaintiff's right to a day in court, it only seems natural that Sally should have the opportunity to take her cause to the courthouse. But the strong fedral presumption that supports the enforcement of arbitration provisions is like a hammber that pushes plaintiffs like Sally and those if Huffman into the arbitration arena. In Huffman, the Sixth Circuit rescued an employwer from an ambiguous arbitration provision contained in the employer-drafted employment agreement and enforced the arbitration provision as one of the provisions to survive expiration of the contract, even though it was not listed …


Deference, Clarity, And The Future Of Arbitration In Investor-State Dispute Settlements, Robert N. Mace Jan 2015

Deference, Clarity, And The Future Of Arbitration In Investor-State Dispute Settlements, Robert N. Mace

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The result in BG Group, PLC demonstrates the Court’s desire to sustain arbitration as an effective and independent means of resolving disputes. The Court displayed an inclination to limit the influence of the judiciary on the process of BIT arbitration, recognizing the important position of BITs in global commerce and the prominence of the United States. Ultimately, the Court aligned the interpretive framework of domestic and international arbitration review in an effort to simplify review for courts and better inform stakeholders to the level of involvement of the judicial system in BITs that contain arbitration provisions.


Concepcion And Mis-Concepcion: Why Unconscionability Survives The Supreme Court's Arbitration Jurisprudence, Richard Frankel Jul 2014

Concepcion And Mis-Concepcion: Why Unconscionability Survives The Supreme Court's Arbitration Jurisprudence, Richard Frankel

Journal of Dispute Resolution

States have long relied on the doctrines of unconscionability and public policy to protect individuals against unfair terms in mandatory arbitration provisions. The Supreme Court recently struck a blow to such efforts in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion and American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant. In those two cases, the Court established that a challenge to the enforceability of unfairly one-sided arbitration clauses is preempted if it would interfere with "fundamental attributes of arbitration." Several commentators have argued that these decisions will dramatically alter the arbitration landscape, by wiping away virtually any contract defense to the validity of an …


Employment Arbitration At The Crossroads: An Assessment And Call For Action, Stephen L. Hayford, Jamie Darin Prenkert, Anjanette H. Raymond Jul 2014

Employment Arbitration At The Crossroads: An Assessment And Call For Action, Stephen L. Hayford, Jamie Darin Prenkert, Anjanette H. Raymond

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Arbitration agreements must be on equal footing with all types of contracts. This stark reality demands that the various stakeholders in the arbitration community converge in the interest of designing and institutionalizing arbitration mechanics and processes that, as a start, exceed the minimum requirements to avoid arguments of substantive unconscionability and, more broadly, provide the fair, just, and accountable alternative dispute resolution system the FAA and the U.S. Supreme Court have indicated it can be. This paper seeks to guide this next stage of the debate by first reviewing the doctrinal developments over the past thirty years that led to …


Europe's Role In Alternative Dispute Resolution: Off To A Good Start?, Maud Piers Jul 2014

Europe's Role In Alternative Dispute Resolution: Off To A Good Start?, Maud Piers

Journal of Dispute Resolution

ADR has become a topical issue in contemporary European procedural private law. Over the past fifteen years, European lawmakers have displayed particular interest in extra-judicial dispute resolution methods as part of a broader effort to promote better access to justice. For example, Directive 2008/52 sets out a framework for the use of mediation in cross-border disputes on civil and commercial matters. The European Commission's influential Recommendations 98/257 and 2001/310, which respectively deal with out-of-court dispute settlements and consensual dispute mechanisms, constitute a starting point for constructing a new approach to ADR. In March of 2013, the European Parliament and the …