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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Rise In Judicial Hostility To Arbitration: Revisiting Hall Street Associates, Thomas E. Carbonneau
The Rise In Judicial Hostility To Arbitration: Revisiting Hall Street Associates, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
When the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Hall Street Associates,LLC v. Mattel, Inc., commentators expected the Court to resolve the split among the federal circuits regarding the validity and enforceability of 'opt-in' agreements.Since the late 1990s, these agreements had become a means through which contracting parties could obtain enhanced judicial supervision of arbitral awards by providing for judicial review of the merits of arbitrator rulings. While commentators got a resolution to the split, they received a great deal more than they had been promised. Stylistic opacity made the opinion in Hall Street somewhat inaccessible. In fact, as rendered, …
The Revolution In Law Through Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
The Revolution In Law Through Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
My subject is arbitration. I explore how its re-emergence during the last forty years has revolutionized the thinking about, and the practice of, law. The development of a "strong federal policy favoring arbitration" cast aside traditional acceptations about law and adjudication. The rule of law-the human civilization associated with law and the legal process-has been profoundly, perhaps irretrievably, altered by the rise of arbitration. The landmark cases in labor and employment arbitration- Alexander v.Gardner-Denver Company (the "old time religion") and Gilmer v. Interstate/JohnsonLane Corporation (the "new age" thinking)- attest to the enormous distance that separates past and present concepts of …
The Ballad Of Transborder Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
The Ballad Of Transborder Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
International commercial arbitration (ICA) is many things positive. Because business transactions cannot take place without a functional system of adjudication,ICA has enabled parties to engage in and pursue international commerce. As a result, it has had an enormous impact upon the international practice of law, the structuring of a de facto international legal system, and the development of a substantive world law of commerce. In a word, ICA has been a vital engine in the creation of a transborder rule of law. Furthering this design, the arbitral "method"has even been applied to the unruly political problems that attend international trade …
The Exercise Of Contract Freedom In The Making Of Arbitration Agreements, Thomas E. Carbonneau
The Exercise Of Contract Freedom In The Making Of Arbitration Agreements, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
A universal principle of contemporary arbitration law is that contract plays a vital role in the governance of arbitration. The vitality of that role can vary by legal system, court,statute, or treaty. Nonetheless, party agreement often provides the most significant rules for regulating arbitrations and conducting arbitral proceedings. This is especially true in international commercial arbitration. There, the lack of a functional transborder legislativeand adjudicatory process made contract the principal source of law for internationalcommercial transactions and arbitrations. Although law-making is more possible withinindividual national legal systems, the rule of contract freedom is also firmly established inmatters of domestic arbitration. …
Judicial Approbation In Building The Civilization Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Judicial Approbation In Building The Civilization Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
This article describes and assesses the work of three national courts in regard to arbitration. The English experience demonstrates that judicial diffidence toward arbitration and concomitant reverence for the cohesion of substantive law can hamper the acceptance and function of arbitration within the legal system. The French and American experiences attest to a contradistinctive use of judicial authority in regard to arbitration. In both legal systems, the courts have been instrumental to the elaboration of a receptive and accommodating law on arbitration. In these legal systems, legislative enactments are used as a springboard for developing a judicial policy and decisional …
Commercial Peace And Political Competition In The Crosshairs Of International Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Commercial Peace And Political Competition In The Crosshairs Of International Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
This article examines the mixed effect of arbitration upon the generation of international law norms; in particular, how arbitration can generate private law norms so effectively and yet still face strong resistance in public international law processes and controversies. The work of arbitration for international commercial litigation has been nothing less than spectacular. In both the private international and domestic civil contexts, arbitration has provided viable remedial solutions and functional adjudication when the law was either nonexistent or incapacitated. It has supplied a workable and adaptable trial system, which-on the international side-could also generate substantive legal norms. Arbitration thereby has …
Arguments In Favor Of The Triumph Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Arguments In Favor Of The Triumph Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
Arbitration is not just another trial procedure. It epitomizes a practical understanding of the purpose and value of adjudicatory procedures. It poses a substantial challenge to adversarial litigation by exposing its underlying irrationality and its destructive impact upon society. It guarantees the rule of law domestically and internationally through affordable access, expedited proceedings, expertise, and bridging the gap between national legal systems. It is a valuable institution that should not become a pawn in the tired and unimaginative political discourse that substitutes 'talking points' for genuine reflection and debate. The gravamen of the current attack on arbitration is not the …
Arbitral Law-Making, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Arbitral Law-Making, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
Diversity--of a cultural, economic, religious, and political kind—exists not only among nation-states and in the sources and interpretation of international law, but also among the group of commentators who study the interactions of transborder actors and institutions. For example, sociologists interested in the global community seek to identify emerging entities and activities and to elaborate conceptual models that explain the new differentiations within the traditional pattern. Some of them have a mounting interest in the fashioning of transborder commercial justice by international arbitrators and private arbitral institutions. Who are these new players? How did they acquire their mandate? Further, how …
Arbitration And The U.S. Supreme Court: A Plea For Statutory Reform, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Arbitration And The U.S. Supreme Court: A Plea For Statutory Reform, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
This Article argues for stabilizing and preserving arbitration's necessary and valuable vocation in dispute resolution. It outlines the basic stages in the evolution of the American law of arbitration and studies the underlying motivation of each of its historical phases. It attributes vital significance to the legislative and decisional law developments that led to an early rehabilitation of arbitration in American law, beginning with the enactment of the United States Arbitration Act (FAA) in 1925 and continuing with the ratification of the New York Arbitration Convention and the elaboration of a "hospitable" federal caselaw. Eventually, these developments gave rise to …
Building The Civilization Of Arbitration - Introduction, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Building The Civilization Of Arbitration - Introduction, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
The U.S. Supreme Court's work product has generated a large and growing arbitration bar. It also has finally begun to stimulate a greater volume of academic activity on the topic of arbitration. The work of legal practitioners and academics,along with the courts' decisional law, are "Building a Civilization of Arbitration" that codifies advances and grapples with the controversial aspects of law-in-the making.The Penn State Dickinson School of Law takes great pride in welcoming a distinguished group of lawyers and law teachers to the pages of its Law Review.They are the leaders in the field of arbitration. Their contributions identify the …
Arbitral Justice: The Demise Of Due Process In American Law, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Arbitral Justice: The Demise Of Due Process In American Law, Thomas E. Carbonneau
Thomas Carbonneau
Arbitration consists of a process for resolving disputes in a final and binding manner outside the traditional court system. The rules that govern arbitration provide for flexible proceedings and do not require the strict application of legal rules. Owing largely to the holdings of the U.S. Supreme Court, arbitration law and procedure have emerged from the obscurity of specialized practice and entered the adjudicatory mainstream. In 1925, with the enactment of the U.S. Arbitration Act, the U.S. Congress declaredthe rehabilitation of arbitral justice and dispute resolution. These provisionsanticipated, in effect, the modern, world-wide legislative legitimization ofarbitration. Primarily because of the …