Law Commons^™

Jurisdiction Over Non-Eu Defendants: The Brussels I Article 79 Review, Ronald A. Brand

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When the original EU Brussels I Regulation on Jurisdiction and the Recognition of Judgments was “recast” in 2011, the Commission recommended that the application of its direct jurisdiction rules apply to all defendants in Member State courts, and not just to defendants from other Member States. This approach was not adopted, but set for reconsideration through Article 79 of the Brussels I (Recast) Regulation, which requires that the European Commission report in 2022 on the possible application of the direct jurisdiction rules of the Regulation to all defendants. Without such a change, the Recast Regulation continues to allow each Member …

M/S Bremen V Zapata Off -Shore Company: Us Common Law Affirmation Of Party Autonomy, Ronald A. Brand

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In the 1972 decision in M/S Bremen v Zapata Off -Shore Company, the U.S. Supreme Court brought together the development of doctrines dealing with party autonomy in choice of court and forum non conveniens. Especially when considered alongside developments favoring arbitration clauses in U.S. courts, the case provides a rich study of conflicts of laws jurisprudence in the twentieth century. This chapter begins with a discussion of fundamental elements of the development of party autonomy in U.S. law and the historical context of the law prior to The Bremen. A brief mention of how one prominent political family …

Mandatory Arbitration In Consumer Finance And Investor Contracts, Michael S. Barr

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This chapter focuses on the use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in a subset of consumer contracts – those involving consumer finance and investor products and services. Arbitration clauses are pervasive in financial contracts – for credit cards, bank accounts, auto loans, broker-dealer services, and many others. In the wake of the recent financial crisis, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank). Dodd-Frank authorises the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prohibit or condition the use of arbitration clauses in consumer finance and investment contracts, …

Employment Arbitration: The Voice Of (Mostly Vicarious) Experience, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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At the 1999 Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA), Dennis Nolan gave a provocative, influential address on the Academy’s future. He concluded that if the organization was to survive and remain a vibrant force for workplace justice, to the mutual benefit of employers and employees, it must expand beyond its traditional role in labor arbitration based on collective bargaining. According to Nolan, the Academy should also encompass employment arbitration in the nonunion context. Like many good advocates, he may have slightly overstated his case. Although subsequent changes in admission standards now allow the counting of 10 employment …

Dismembering Families, Anthony C. Infanti

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In this paper, I explore how the deduction for extraordinary medical expenses, codified in I.R.C. section 213, furthers domination in American society. On its face, section 213 probably does not seem a likely candidate for being tagged as furthering domination. After all, this provision aims to alleviate extraordinary financial burdens on taxpayers who already suffer from significant medical problems -- and who, by definition, lack the help of insurance to relieve those burdens. But, as laudable as this goal might be, careful attention to the text and context of section 213 reveals that it does not apply to all taxpayers …

External Law In Arbitration Hard-Boiled, Soft-Boiled, And Sunny-Side Up, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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Thirty-seven years ago Bernie Meltzer and the late Bob Howlett squared off at our annual meeting in a classic confrontation on an issue that refuses to die. What should an arbitrator do when there is a seemingly irreconcilable conflict between a provision of a collective bargaining agreement and the dictates of external law? Professor Meltzer was the hard-boiled logician. Arbitrators' proper domain is the parties' contract, said he, and we "should respect the agreement and ignore the law" when the two diverge. Howlett took the softer, more accomodating approach. He reasoned that "every agreement incorporates all applicable law" and so …

The State Of External Law's Effect On The Arbitration Process. Iii. A Commentary On The External Law Papers And Iv. Panel Discussion, Theodore J. St. Antoine, Marilyn S. Teitelbaum, Robert Vercruysse

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Marilyn Teitelbaum: I think I have the best of all worlds because I can read these great papers, without having to prepare one of my own, and like all lawyers I like to talk. So, I can share my views, that sometimes diverge from both of the views just presented, particularly the view from the management perspective.

In one part of Ted St. Antoine’s paper that was not discussed with you today, he says that the external law question may be a “tempest in a tea pot.” My words would be similar—“much ado about nothing.” I think there is a …

A Mirage In The Sand? Distinguishing Binding And Non-Binding Relations Between States, Christine M. Chinkin

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The article discusses the two decisions (thus far) of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain, especially its consideration of when an internationally binding agreement has come into existence. The Court's willingness to infer a legally binding agreement, regardless of the intentions of at least one of the parties, appears to displace the primacy of consent it has emphasized in its earlier jurisprudence. The decision seems to hold states bound by informal commitments, an approach that might inhibit open negotiations between states and undermine genuine attempts to pre-empt disputes …

Internationalization Of Labor Disputes: Can Adr Mechanisms Help?, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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My task is to assess the ways in which ADR procedures may be adapted to deal with international labor disputes. ADR refers to various methods by which neutral third parties assist persons engaged in a conflict to settle their differences without invoking the decision-making power of the state or another sanction-imposing body. Both mediation and arbitration are included among such methods. In mediation, the neutral aims for the parties to agree on a mutually acceptable solution. In arbitration, the neutral imposes a solution after presentations by the contending parties. A third term - conciliation - is sometimes used and generally …

Alternatives To Economic Sanctions, Christine M. Chinkin

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Considering the merits of non-coercive alternatives to economic sanctions inevitably risks the charges of idealism and naIvete. However a number of speakers in this conference have raised considerable doubts about the efficacy of sanctions: even on their own terms sanctions rarely work and the material costs to non-targeted states and the implications for human rights make their justification problematic, even when they can in some sense be said to have worked. It therefore makes sense at least to give consideration to some non- coercive alternatives, either in conjunction with sanctioning policies or separate from them. The other alternative is the …

Presidential Address: Contract Reading Revisited, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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A quarter century ago, in a presentation at the Academy’s annual meeting, I used the phrase “contract reader” to characterize the role an arbitrator plays in construing a collective bargaining agreement. That two-word phrase may be the only thing I ever said before this body which has been remembered. Unfortunately, it is almost invariably misunderstood. Time and again members have reproached me: “What’s the big deal about contract reading, anyway? Isn’t it just the same as contract interpretation?” Or, more substantively scathing: “Do you really think, Ted, that all you have to do to interpret a labor agreement is to …

Is There A Growing International Arbitration Culture?, Whitmore Gray

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The topic given to Prof. Taniguchi and myself for this opening session is a question, "Is there a growing international arbitration culture?" This seems to call for a survey of attitudes and practices peculiar to international arbitration in order to answer the question. The more extended comment of the organizers assumes, as most of us would, however, that such a culture exists, and assigns to us the task of considering what laws and rules are now being developed to implement this "international culture". We also noted that the organizers expressed their conviction that this Conference must have practical and cultural …

The Law Of Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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The law did not look kindly on arbitration in its infancy. As a process by which two or more parties could agree to have an impartial outsider resolve a dispute between them, arbitration was seen as a usurpation of the judiciary' sown functions, as an attempt to "oust the courts of jurisdiction." That was the English view, and American courts were similarly hostile. They would not order specific performance of an executory (unperformed) agreement to arbitrate, nor grant more than nominal damages for the usual breach. Only an arbitral award actually issued was enforceable at common law. All this began …

Whither Arbitration?—Comments, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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Exactly 30 years ago this month the Michigan Law Review published an article that evoked in me an emotion I must confess is the surest sign that I am in the presence of excellence-envy! The piece was entitled, "Past Practice and the Administration of Collective Bargaining Agreements." It was authored by the esteemed principal speaker at this session, and it came as close as anything I have ever read to deserving that much-overworked appellation, "definitive." It is always hazardous to try to predict the ultimate rating of a brand new vintage, but my first tasting of Dick Mittenthal's latest product …

Drafting The Dispute Resolution Clause, Whitmore Gray

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Providing in a contract for ways to resolve disputes that may arise presents a substantial challenge to the lawyer. In one sense, this is what a lawyer regularly does in contract drafting-anticipating misunderstandings or problems that experience has indicated are likely to arise, and trying to provide clear solutions in advance. When it comes to drafting a specific clause for the resolution of further disputes that may arise, however, many lawyers are at a substantial disadvantage. The task comes at the end of the substantive negotiations. The client does not want to focus on, or draw the other party's attention …

Conflict Resolution In Industrial Relations, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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Only about one-fifth of the American labor force is unionized. With certain important exceptions, therefore, no formal machinery exists to resolve the various disputes that arise between a majority of the country's workers and their employers. The exception, which will not be treated in detail in this study, relate to (1) the right to organize into unions, which has been protected in most of the private sector since 1935 by the National Labor Relations Act and in the public sector since the 1960s by federal law and regulation covering U.S. Government employees and by statutes in about thirty states covering …

Dispute Resolution Between The General Motors Corporation And The United Automobile Workers, 1970-1982, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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At the end of 1982 the active membership of the United Automobile Workers stood at 1.25 million workers, belonging to about 1,600 local unions in the United States and Canada. There were 1.14 million Americans and 115,000 Canadians. Women accounted for 170,000 memberships in the two countries. A fifth or more of the total may have been retired members. The UAW ranks as the largest manufacturing union, ahead of the United Steelworkers, but behind three unions representing truckers, school teachers, and retail employees. Substantially all the blue-collar workers in the domestic auto industry have been organized, the vast majority by …

Drafting The Arbitration Clause, Whitmore Gray

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Providing in the contract for ways to resolve disputes that may arise presents a substantial challenge to the lawyer. In one sense this is what he or she is doing in general in contract drafting--anticipating misunderstandings or problems which experience indicates are likely to arise, and trying to provide clear answers in advance. When it comes to drafting a specific clause for the resolution of further disputes which may arise, however, many lawyers are at a substantial disadvantage. The task comes at the end of the substantive negotiations. The client does not want to focus on or draw the other …

Arbitration Procedures, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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I am in the uncomfortable position of being the primary expositor on a subject that I think is very much a matter of discretion in most cases, that is, how an arbitrator handles a hearing. One of the common characteristics I have detected among arbitrators is their apparent certitude on a disputed issue, even though they may disagree violently with other experienced arbitrators. Some of them will say that whatever internal anguish or difficulty an arbitrator has in coming to a decision, he should never display that to the parties. I myself cannot accept that advice simply because I am …

Protection Against Unjust Discipline: An Idea Whose Time Has Long Since Come, Theodore St. Antoine

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The law seems able to absorb only so many new ideas in a given area at one time. In 1967 Professor Lawrence Blades of Kansas produced a pioneering article in which he decried the iron grip of the contract doctrine of employment at will, and argued that all employees should be legally protected against abusive discharge. The next dozen years witnessed a remarkable reaction. With a unanimity rare, if not unprecedented, among the contentious tribe of labor academics and labor arbitrators, a veritable Who's Who of those professions stepped forth to embrace Blades' notion, and to refine and elaborate it …

Protection Against Unjust Discipline: An Idea Whose Time Has Long Since Come, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Book Chapters

The law seems able to absorb only so many new ideas in a given area at any one time. In 1967 Professor Lawrence Blades of Kansas produced a pioneering article in which he decried the iron grip of the contract doctrine of employment at will, and argued that all employees should be legally protected against abusive discharge. The next dozen years witnessed a remarkable reaction. With a unanimity rare, if not unprecedented, among the contentious tribe of labor academics and labor arbitrators, a veritable Who's Who of those professions stepped forth to embrace Blades' notion, and to refine and elaborate …

Judicial Review Of Labor Arbitration Awards: A Second Look At Enterprise Wheel And Its Progeny, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Book Chapters

Logic, so the cliche goes, is not the life of the law. But logic is very much like the DNA of the law-the structural principle without which all is sprawl and muddle. In the last ten years a controversy has raged over the role of the labor arbitrator in issuing awards, and the role of the courts in reviewing and enforcing those awards. This controversy has largely taken the form of a continuing debate among scholars and practicing arbitrators at the annual meetings of the National Academy of Arbitrators. With due respect to the thoughtful and experienced persons who have …

Interventionism, Laissez-Faire, And Stare Decisis: The Labor Decisions Of The Supreme Court, October Term 1969, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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Following is the partial text of an address delivered at the August 10, 1970, meeting of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor Relations Law by Theodore J. St. Antoine, Professor of Law, University of Michigan, and Secretary of the Section of Labor Relations Law of the American Bar Association. The portion of the address reproduced deals with the Supreme Court's Boys Markets decision relating to injunctions against strikes in violation of no-strike contracts and the Court's H. K. Porter decision involving the NLRB' s authority to order a party to agree to a substantive provision in a collective bargaining …

The Role Of Law In Arbitration: Discussion, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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Back in the days before the Green Bay Packers acquired fee simple title to the National Football League championship, I saw a playoff game here at the Cleveland Stadium between the Browns and the Detroit Lions. My Michigan loyalties have created a mental block as to the final score, but I do have a vivid recollection of one stirring goal-line stand by Detroit. A great, burly Lion tackle stationed himself about a foot from the goal post—and I remember thinking that whatever play the Brown quarterback might call, it certainly wasn't going to be a run over tackle. In facing …