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Full-Text Articles in Law

Personal Autonomy And Vacatur After Hall Street, Richard C. Reuben Apr 2009

Personal Autonomy And Vacatur After Hall Street, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

This article analyzes the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Hall Street Associates v. Mattel, Inc., 128 S.Ct. 1396 (2008), in which the Court said that arbitration parties may not contract for substantive judicial review of arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act. The article contends that Hall Street Associates was rightly decided as a matter of dispute resolution process characteristics and values theory because it preserves arbitration’s central virtue of finality. It further argues that the Court’s insistence on the exclusivity of the FAA’s statutory grounds for vacatur should spell the end of the so-called “non-statutory” grounds …


Arguments In Favor Of The Triumph Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau Jan 2009

Arguments In Favor Of The Triumph Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Journal Articles

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 …


Building The Civilization Of Arbitration - Introduction, Thomas E. Carbonneau Jan 2009

Building The Civilization Of Arbitration - Introduction, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Journal Articles

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 …


Judicial Approbation In Building The Civilization Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau Jan 2009

Judicial Approbation In Building The Civilization Of Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Journal Articles

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 …


Is Arbitration Under Attack?: Exploring The Recent Judicial Skepticism Of The Class Arbitration Waiver And Innovative Solutions To The Unsettled Legal Landscape, Ramona L. Lampley Jan 2009

Is Arbitration Under Attack?: Exploring The Recent Judicial Skepticism Of The Class Arbitration Waiver And Innovative Solutions To The Unsettled Legal Landscape, Ramona L. Lampley

Faculty Articles

Courts have become increasingly likely in recent years to find class arbitration waivers in consumer product sales unenforceable due to the lack of incentives for consumers and their attorneys to recover for "low value" claims. This article explores the history of the unconscionability and vindication-of-statutory rights doctrines invoked by those courts. It then analyzes the progression of the class arbitration waiver in the consumer products industry, with emphasis on the third-generation "incentivizing" agreement. This "incentivizing" agreement, if viewed at the time of the purchase agreement, can be mutually beneficial to seller and consumer. Some consumers may wish to forego the …


Wikitruth Through Wikiorder, David A. Hoffman, Salil K. Mehra Jan 2009

Wikitruth Through Wikiorder, David A. Hoffman, Salil K. Mehra

All Faculty Scholarship

How does large-scale social production coordinate individual behavior to produce public goods? Hardin (1968) denied that the creation of public goods absent markets or the State is possible. Benkler (2006), Shirky (2008), Zittrain (2008), and Lessig (2008) recently countered that the needed coordination might emerge though social norms. However, the means to this coordination is under-theorized. Focusing on Wikipedia, we argue that the site’s dispute resolution process is an important force in promoting the public good it produces, i.e., a large number of relatively accurate public encyclopedia articles. We describe the development and shape of Wikipedia’s existing dispute resolution system. …


Ica And The Writing Requirement: Following Modern Trends Towards Liberalization Or Are We Stuck In 1958?, Jack Graves Jan 2009

Ica And The Writing Requirement: Following Modern Trends Towards Liberalization Or Are We Stuck In 1958?, Jack Graves

Scholarly Works

Article 7 of the Model Law was revised in 2006 to liberalize any requirements of form, consistent with modern commercial practices and modern legal trends reflected in national laws. To the extent adopted by national legislatures, either of the two available options under this revision will effectively eliminate any requirement of a “record of consent,” thus making arbitration agreements more easily enforceable in the adopting jurisdiction. However, any such revision of national laws on arbitration based on the revisions of Article 7 of the Model Law will not necessarily have any effect on enforcement of awards in other jurisdictions under …


Fixing The Mandatory Arbitration Problem: We Need The Arbitration Fairness Act Of 2009, Jean R. Sternlight Jan 2009

Fixing The Mandatory Arbitration Problem: We Need The Arbitration Fairness Act Of 2009, Jean R. Sternlight

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.


Research In International Commercial Arbitration: Special Skills, Special Sources, S. I. Strong Jan 2009

Research In International Commercial Arbitration: Special Skills, Special Sources, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Experts agree that international commercial arbitration relies far more heavily on written advocacy than litigation does, yet very few practitioners and arbitrators have ever received any specialized training in how to research and present written arguments in this unique area of law. Newcomers to the field are particularly disadvantaged, since the legal authorities used in international commercial arbitration are unique and novices often do not know how to find certain materials, if they are even aware that these items exist. This article helps deepen the understanding of the practice of international commercial arbitration by describing how experienced international advocates and …


Nonconsensual Nonbinding = Nonsensical? Reconsidering Court-Connected Arbitration Programs, Amy J. Schmitz Jan 2009

Nonconsensual Nonbinding = Nonsensical? Reconsidering Court-Connected Arbitration Programs, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Policymakers have adopted programs mandating parties to submit their disputes to court connected arbitration hoping to garner efficiency benefits commonly associated with contractual Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) arbitration. Mandatory nonbinding arbitration, however, is ill-equipped for this task because it lacks the consensual core and finality of FAA arbitration. Instead, it often adds an inefficient layer to the litigation process and may harm those least able to protect themselves from coerced settlements or burdens of protracted litigation.