Contracts Commons^™

Amending Maine's Plain Language Law To Ensure Complete Disclosure To Consumers Signing Arbitration Contracts, Andrew R. Sarapas

Maine Law Review

Arbitration has been defined as an informal procedure used by disputants to resolve their differences in a forum other than a court of law. By agreeing to arbitration, the parties submit their disputes to selected arbitrators, whose reasoning and final decisions or awards supplant the judgment of the established judicial tribunals. Further, the decisions of arbitrators are usually binding and enforceable in courts. Although arbitration has been lauded for being less expensive and time-consuming than litigation, consumers arbitrating disputes with large companies may not be playing on a level field. It is important, however, to distinguish arbitration from mediation. Arbitrators, …

Boilerplate’S False Dichotomy, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

The argument against enforcing boilerplate contracts (contracts that no one reads) seems clear. Indeed, if this were a court case we would say that the jury is in; the evidence against boilerplate is overwhelming. Yet the judge has yet to render judgment. Courts continue to enforce boilerplate terms, and even those scholars who have exposed boilerplate as an emperor with no clothes are reluctant to gaze upon its nakedness and condemn its use.

This reluctance originates in an assumption that pervades the boilerplate debate—namely, that courts and commentators alike view boilerplate as necessary to the modern transaction. When asked to …

English Justice For An American Company?, Christopher French

Christopher C. French

Washoe Cty. Sch. Dist. V. White, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 43 (June 29, 2017), Margarita Elias

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Kara White (“White”) was terminated from her role as elementary school principal after the school district’s decision to terminate her was affirmed in an arbitration hearing. White filed a motion to vacate the award in district court. The district court granted White’s motion, holding that (1) the arbitrator exceeded his authority, (2) the arbitrator manifestly disregarded NRS 391.3116, and (3) the award was arbitrary and capricious. The school district appealed to the Supreme Court of Nevada, which reversed the district court’s ruling.

Notes From A Quiet Corner: User Concerns About Reinsurance Arbitration – And Attendant Lessons For Selection Of Dispute Resolution Forums And Methods, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Arbitration between insurers and reinsurers – those who insure insurance companies – should logically run as smoothly as any arbitration process. Like the traditional commercial arbitration that drove enactment of the Federal Arbitration Act, reinsurance arbitration involves experienced actors in a confined industry in which the parties should be constructively aware of the rules, norms, customs and practices of the industry. But in spite of this, reinsurance arbitration experiences consistent problems of which the participants complain. This article reviews the complaints and exams possible solutions – including the possibility of arbitrating less and litigating more. Although these possible solutions would …

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

Book Chapters

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, …

The Three Phases Of The Supreme Court’S Arbitration Jurisprudence: Empowering The Already-Empowered, Martin H. Malin

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Dismantling Democracy: Common Sense And The Contract Jurisprudence Of Frank Easterbrook, Deborah Post

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preface To The Gateway Thread, Deborah Post

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Where's The Sense In Hill V. Gateway 2000?: Reflections On The Visible Hand Of Norm Creation, Shubha Ghosh

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cognition And Common Sense In Contract Law, Beverly Horsburgh, Andrew Cappel

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Common Sense, Contracts, And Law And Literature: Why Lawyers Should Read Henry James, Lenora Ledwon

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Common Sense And Contract Law: Fear Of A Normative Planet?, Thomas Joo

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reforming The Federal Arbitration Act To Equalize The Adjudication Rights Of Powerful And Weak Parties, Stephen A. Plass

Catholic University Law Review

Providing an extensive historical overview of federal arbitration jurisprudence and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), this article argues that the Supreme Court has misinterpreted FAA provisions and goals, thereby drastically changing the law of labor arbitration to the detriment of American workers and consumers. Namely, original congressional policy goals (providing speedy, fair and informal alternatives to court adjudication) have been countermanded by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of arbitration law over the last 50 years. As a result, modern arbitration law sets up an imbalance of power between employers/merchants and workers/consumers who are forced into lengthy and expensive procedures before they …

Principal Investments V. Harrison, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 2 (Jan. 14, 2016), Katherine Maher

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court held unless the arbitration agreement commits the question to the arbitrator with “clear and unmistakable” language, a litigation-conduct waiver is presumptively for the court to decide because it is a waiver based on active litigation in court. Thus, the district court judge in this case did not err in addressing whether the moving party waived its right to arbitrate, instead of referring the question to the arbitrator.

Vacatur Of Awards Under The Tennessee Uniform Arbitration Act: Substance, Procedure, And Strategies For Practitioners, Steven Feldman

Steven Feldman

Currently, a lively debate exists in the academic community about the fairness of contractual arbitration clauses. The commentators, however, rarely explore the doctrinal aspects of arbitration as found in the Uniform Arbitration Act, the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, and the Federal Arbitration Act.

This oversight is regrettable because standard form arbitration clauses are a fixture on the current legal landscape and the odds are high that arbitration in its current form will continue for many years to come.

This article analyzes the Tennessee Uniform Arbitration Act (TUAA). One of the most challenging TUAA topics is the action for vacatur (annulment) …

The Customer's Nonwaivable Right To Choose Arbitration In The Securities Industry, Jill I. Gross

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Arbitration has been the predominant form of dispute resolution in the securities industry since the 1980s. Virtually all brokerage firms include predispute arbitration agreements (PDAAs) in their retail customer contracts, and have successfully fought off challenges to their validity. Additionally, the industry has long mandated that firms submit to arbitration at the demand of a customer, even in the absence of a PDAA.

More recently, however, brokerage firms have been arguing that forum selection clauses in their agreements with sophisticated customers (such as institutional investors and issuers) supersede firms’ duty to arbitrate under FINRA Rule 12200. Circuit courts currently are …

Hurrah For The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consumer Arbitration As A Poster Child For Regulation, Jean R. Sternlight

Scholarly Works

Drawing on economic, psychological and philosophical considerations, this Essay considers whether consumers should be "free" to "agree" to contractually trade their opportunity to litigate in a class action for the opportunity to bring an arbitration claim against a company. The Essay suggests that by looking at the CFPB's regulation through these three lenses, one sees that the regulation is desirable—even a poster child—for the potential value of regulation when market forces are not sufficient to protect individual or public interests.

Kcon Xi Essay Introduction: Compulsory Arbitration And Adhesion Contracts In The Age Of Donald Trump, Peter Linzer

St. Mary's Law Journal

Remarks of Peter Linzer on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the 11th International Contracts Conference (K-CON XI). Revised after Election Day, 2016.

"What We Lose In Sales, We Make Up In Volume": The Faulty Logic Of The Financial Services Industry's Response To The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Proposed Rule Prohibiting Class Action Bans In Arbitration Clauses, Richard Frankel

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

The Cfpb Anti-Arbitration Proposal: Let's Just Give Arbitration A Chance., Ramona L. Lampley

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

Hurrah For The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Consumer Arbitration As A Poster Child For Regulation, Jean R. Sternlight

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

“Whimsy Little Contracts” With Unexpected Consequences: An Empirical Analysis Of Consumer Understanding Of Arbitration Agreements, Jeff Sovern, Elayne E. Greenberg, Paul F. Kirgis, Yuxiang Liu

Maryland Law Review

Arbitration clauses have become ubiquitous in consumer contracts. These arbitration clauses require consumers to waive the constitutional right to a civil jury, access to court, and, increasingly, the procedural remedy of class representation. Because those rights cannot be divested without consent, the validity of arbitration agreements rests on the premise of consent. Consumers who do not want to arbitrate or waive their class rights can simply decline to purchase the products or services covered by an arbitration agreement. But the premise of consent is undermined if consumers do not understand the effect on their procedural rights of clicking a box …

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

Articles

Mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses are pervasive in consumer financial and investor contracts—for credit cards, bank accounts, auto loans, broker-dealer services, and many others. These clauses often ill serve households. Consumers are typically presented with contracts on a “take it or leave it” basis, with no ability to negotiate over terms. Arbitration provisions are often not clearly disclosed, and in any event are not salient for consumers, who do not focus on the importance of the provision in the event that a dispute over the contract later arises, and who may misforecast the likelihood of being in such a dispute. The …

Tallman V. Eight Judicial District Court, 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 60673 (Sep. 24, 2015), Marta Kurshumova

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court held that an employment arbitration agreement, which contains a clause waiving the right to initiate or participate in class actions, constitutes a valid contract, even though it is not signed by the employer. The Court further determined that the Federal Arbitration Act applies to all transactions involving commerce and does not conflict with the National Labor Relations Act, which permits and requires arbitration. Finally, the Court found that a party does not automatically waive its contractual rights to arbitration by removing an action to federal court.

Mika V. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 71 (Sep. 24, 2015), Kory Koerperich

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The court denied extraordinary writ relief from the district court’s decision to compel arbitration between Petitioners and their employer based on a long-form arbitration agreement signed only by the Petitioners, and federal law favoring arbitration agreements.

Foreign Investment In The People's Republic Of China: Compensation Trade, Joint Ventures, Industrial Property Protection And Dispute Settlement, Kevin K. Maher

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Is The Albert H Kritzer Database Telling Us More Than We Know?, Thomas Neumann

Pace International Law Review

This article is the first in a series of articles attempting to provide a geographical and temporal overview of the application practice of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). In this first article, the success of CISG is explored. The article develops the idea of using the Albert H. Kritzer Database to achieve an overview of the success of the Convention in practice. It is argued that the success of the Convention is useful to measure by its uniformity in practice, and therefore a set of criteria relating to the Convention’s application by …

Employee Beware! Employment Agreements And What The Technology Related Employee Should Know And Understand Before Signing That Agreement: A Practical Guide, Louis J. Papa

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Product Liability Law In Japan: An Introduction To A Developing Area Of Law, Younghee Jin Ottley, Bruce L. Ottley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.