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Arbitration

2014

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Law

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 …


Plurality Influence: Reed Elsevier And The Precedential Value Of Bazzle On Class Arbitrability, Kevin P. Sack Jul 2014

Plurality Influence: Reed Elsevier And The Precedential Value Of Bazzle On Class Arbitrability, Kevin P. Sack

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Class arbitration is a tricky process to navigate as it introduces more parties, higher stakes, and more procedures than typical bilateral arbitration. Because class arbitration is more complex, the determination as to whether an arbitration agreement authorizes class arbitration (class arbitrability) is an important one, and the entity that makes the class determination should be knowledgeable about class procedures in order to be suited to make such an important finding. In Reed Elsevier, Inc. ex rel. LexisNexis Div. v. Crockett, the Sixth Circuit held that the determination of class arbitrability should be presumptively reserved to judicial courts, not arbitrators, unless …


Head Of The Class: Oxford Health Plans And The Uncertain Future Of Class Arbitrability Determinations, Kevin Sack Jan 2014

Head Of The Class: Oxford Health Plans And The Uncertain Future Of Class Arbitrability Determinations, Kevin Sack

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Arbitration clauses allow contracting parties to resolve their contractual disputes without being subjected to lengthy and expensive judicial processes. Arbitrators are authorized to interpret contractual arbitration agreements to determine which issues the parties agreed to arbitrate. However, contract arbitration provisions are often silent as to the availability of class action procedures. Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter held that, when parties expressly agree to allow an arbitrator to interpret whether their agreement allows class action arbitration, the arbitrator does not exceed his authority in doing so, regardless of interpretive error.' This note first discusses how the United States Supreme Court …


Developing A Framework For Arbitrating Standards-Essential Patent Disputes, Jorge L. Contreras, David L. Newman Jan 2014

Developing A Framework For Arbitrating Standards-Essential Patent Disputes, Jorge L. Contreras, David L. Newman

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This article lays the groundwork for the development of such procedures and identifies several key areas requiring further study and deliberation. Particular attention is paid to fundamental questions such as whether SEP arbitration should be mandated by SDOs, which conflicts should be arbitrated, whether arbitral decisions should be confidential, and what form arbitration proceedings should take. While, at this early stage, these difficult questions cannot be answered definitively, this article offers a framework for further discussion that the authors hope will be useful for policy makers, industry participants, and commentators considering these important issues.