Law Commons^™

Origin, Scope, And Irrevocability Of The Manifest Disregard Of The Law Doctrine: Second Circuit Views, Christian Turner, Joshua Ratner

Scholarly Works

After arbitration has occurred, parties may seek judicial enforcement of the arbitral award, converting the private determination into an enforceable judgment. Parties that did not prevail in the arbitration may, at the same time, seek to have the arbitral award vacated. This article concerns the doctrine that permits courts to vacate an arbitral award when the arbitrators “manifestly disregarded” the law, focusing on recent developments in the Second Circuit. Despite the exceedingly deferential scope of this doctrine, the Second Circuit has actually vacated a handful of arbitrations on grounds of manifest disregard, and the doctrine is routinely raised by litigants. …

Designer Trials, Elizabeth G. Thornburg

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article considers the intersection of freedom of contract and the trials that have not vanished. Could contracting parties effectively agree in advance of a dispute that any litigation of the case will comply with certain rules? Would such an agreement be enforced even in a contract of adhesion? If so, parties with sufficient bargaining leverage could design away many of the characteristics of litigation that they find unappealing, without the need to resort to private processes. The result: a designer trial with the procedural deck stacked in favor of the party with the greatest pre-dispute bargaining power.

Such a …

How Far Is Too Far: Reexamining The Continuing Extension Of Arbitral Immunity To Arbitral Organizations, Elizabeth Wilhelmi

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The protection of arbitration proceedings from judicial inquiry is restricted not only by the limited grounds for vacatur, but also by the application of arbitral immunity, a protection derived from the judicial immunity applied to judges. This immunity strengthens the finality of arbitration by restricting judicial review of decisions protected by arbitral immunity, but at the same time, it raises the question of whether courts should give arbitration the same broad immunity that protects judges. Despite the differences between arbitration and the judicial system, the courts have applied arbitral immunity to the arbitrator's acts in the same way as they …

The Explained Award Of Damocles: Protection Or Peril In Securities Arbitration, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

NASD's proposed rule change requiring arbitrators to provide written explanations in arbitration awards upon the customers' request (the “explained award proposal”), which was published for public comment in July 2005, is the clearest example of NASD's proposing a rule change in response to investors' complaints. “We have found that investors want to know more about how a panel reaches its decision,” stated NASD Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert R. Glauber in announcing the explained award proposal. “By giving investors the option of requiring a written explanation of an arbitration panel's decision, we will increase investor confidence in the fairness …

An Empirical Analysis Of Ceo Employment Contracts: What Do Top Executives Bargain For?, Randall Thomas, Stewart J. Schwab

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In this paper, we examine the key legal characteristics of 375 employment contracts between some of the largest 1500 public corporations and their Chief Executive Officers. We look at the actual language of these contracts, asking whether and in what ways CEO contracts differ from what are thought of as standard employment contract features for other workers. Our data provide some empirical answers to several common assertions or speculations about CEO contracts, and shed light on whether these contracts are negotiated solely to suit the preferences of CEOs or have provisions that insure that the employers' interests are also safeguarded. …

A Practioner's Guide: An Overview Of The Major International Arbitration Tribunals, Stefania Bondurant

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

Americans Abroad: International Educational Programs And Tort Liability, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

In recent decades, the number of foreign programs operated by American colleges and universities has greatly expanded. Until recently, there were few reported cases involving claims arising from foreign educational ventures. However, the increase in international study abroad programs has been paralleled by an increase in tort claims. Additionally, because of the tendency of tort cases to be settled, the number of unreported cases, based on harm to students participating in study abroad programs, may be considerably larger than what appears in legal research databases.

Given the high cost of potential litigation, a program provider has no choice but to …

Competing For Capital: The Diffusion Of Bilateral Investment Treaties, 1960-2000, Andrew T. Guzman

Andrew T Guzman

Over the past forty-five years, bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have become the most important international legal mechanism for the encouragement and governance of foreign direct investment. The proliferation of BITs during the past two decades in particular has been phenomenal. These intergovernmental treaties typically grant extensive rights to foreign investors, including protection of contractual rights and the right to international arbitration in the event of an investment dispute. How can we explain the widespread adoption of BITs? We argue that the spread of BITs is driven by international competition among potential host countries—typically developing countries—for foreign direct investment. We propose …

The Case For Enforcing Adhesive Arbitration Agreements - With Particular Consideration Of Class Actions And Arbitration Fees, Stephen Ware

Stephen Ware

Arbitration clauses appear in a wide variety of the form contracts through which consumers obtain goods, services and credit, as well as in employment agreements, and other contracts of ordinary individuals. These adhesive agreements to arbitrate are generally enforced by courts, but this enforcement is quite controversial. Countless law review articles criticize it, while the few that defend it are usually limited in important ways. This paper defends the general enforcement of adhesive arbitration agreements.

Section I shows that this general enforcement is socially desirable and that it benefits most consumers, employees and other adhering parties. Section II introduces the …