Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

The Legal Acrobatics Of Dealing With International Arbitral Awards Rendered In The United States, Damon R. Duchenne

University of Miami Law Review

International arbitration has become a preferred method for resolving cross-border commercial disputes, largely due to its efficiency and flexibility compared to traditional court litigation. However, the post-award phase, particularly the process of vacating or enforcing arbitral awards, presents significant complexities, especially in the United States. Despite the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “Convention”) guiding the international recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, the U.S. has introduced an anomaly by categorizing certain awards rendered within its jurisdiction as “nondomestic,” subjecting them to the Convention’s framework. This has led to confusion regarding whether such awards are …

The Professional Employer Organization As Dispute System Designer: Mandatory Arbitration In The Co-Employment Context, Ursula Ramsey

University of Miami Business Law Review

A professional employer organization (“PEO”) provides payroll, employment tax, and human resources services to its small to mid-sized business clients. Today, more than 200,000 businesses employing 4.5 million people utilize a PEO’s services. A common PEO strategy is to require co-employees of the PEO and its client companies to agree to mandatory arbitration provisions despite criticism that mandatory employment arbitration lacks public accountability, has lower win rates for employees, and may fail to protect due process. Mandatory arbitration is one method of dispute system design, a term that describes the selection and development of processes by which a company chooses …

Like Oil And Water: How The Guyana-Venezuela Border Dispute Impacts Foreign Oil Investors, Aisha Jehaludi

University of Miami Business Law Review

Guyana, a hidden gem located on the northern coast of South America, is an emergent nation primarily known as the land of many waters. However, in 2015, this hidden gem captured international attention when the country struck liquid gold: oil. The discovery put Guyana on the map as an attractive foreign investment opportunity, and over the last ten years, Guyana has gone from being one of the poorest nations in South America to the nation with the world’s fastest growing economy.

This economic boom, fueled by foreign oil companies, also caught the attention of Guyana’s neighboring country, Venezuela. On December …

New Legal Realism At 20: Rethinking Law In An Era Of Populism And Social Movements, Jeffrey Omari, Pablo Rueda-Saiz, Richard Ashby Wilson

Articles

This Article critically examines the New Legal Realism (NLR) movement on its twentieth anniversary and illuminates its distinctive intellectual contributions. In evaluating NLR's unique methodological and substantive contributions, we explore the movement's relationship to other interdisciplinary theories and empirical approaches to law. NLR approaches show a commitment to a comparative, cross-national exploration of legal phenomena while allowing for grounded generalizations about the relationship between law and society. NLR approaches embrace a diverse range of methods and emphasize the importance of "looking up, down, and sideways." Notably, NLR embraces both "top-down" and "bottom-up" methods, providing comprehensive insights into the intricate interactions …

Who Invented It? Streamlining Determination Of Patent Inventorship, Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

University of Miami Law Review

Disputes over inventorship are common in industries where new technology is important. Patents are invalid unless correct inventors are named on the patent, even when all the inventors have assigned their rights to the enterprise applying for a patent. The complexity of modern technology is such that an invention qualifying for a patent rarely is the work of only one individual. Employees and former employees frequently claim that they have been left off patent applications wrongfully. Patent law provides a variety of ways to correct inventorship both while such applications are being prosecuted in the U. S. Patent and Trademark …

Alternative Dispute Resolution In Agency Administrative Programs, Kristen Blankley, Kathleen Claussen, Judith Starr

Articles

This Article studies how federal agencies use and might better use different types of alternative dispute resolution (ADR)-including mediation, conciliation, facilitation, factfinding, minitrials, arbitration, and the use of ombuds-in the programs Congress has entrusted them to administer. The use of ADR by the executive branch of the federal government to resolve disputes with or among private actors has deep historical roots. ADR related to managerial agency matters such as employment or procurement is well-established across the government and performed under a uniform set of laws. Much less has been known, however, about the scope and reach of ADR in the …

The Acquisition Of Twitter: The Legal Interplay Between Elon Musk, Shareholders, Employees, And The Government, Florence Shu-Blankson

University of Miami Business Law Review

This article examines the acquisition process of Twitter by Elon Musk. It will analyze the legal validity of Musk’s initial claims for rescinding his offer, as well as Twitter’s defense arguments. It will consider questions such as: Did Twitter cause a material adverse effect to its operations that would be a basis for Musk to avoid the deal? Did Musk run afoul of any regulatory requirements under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations? What impact did the ultimate sale of Twitter have on other stakeholders, such as corporate executives and non-executives, shareholders, employees. The …

Baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, And The Judicial Strike Zone - Home Run Or Foul On The Play?, Jan L. Jacobowitz

Articles

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Micky Mantle, and Shoeless Joe Jackson—There are many well-known baseball legends, but perhaps less well-known is the story of Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a judge turned baseball commissioner who inspired not only baseball fans, but also the American Bar Association’s first Judicial Canon of Ethics. The parallel stories of baseball’s greatest scandal, the judge appointed to be the first baseball commissioner, and the development of the judicial canons, provide context for the current controversial judicial prohibition--the appearance of impropriety.

A Muddy Mess: The Supreme Court’S Jurisprudence On Jurisdiction For Arbitration Matters, Kristen M. Blankley

University of Miami Law Review

The Supreme Court’s 2022 Badgerow v. Waters decision at- tempts to create a bright-line rule regarding access to federal courts to hear arbitration matters. On its face, the Badgerow majority opinion reads like a straightforward exercise in textualism. Badgerow interpreted the judicial test for jurisdiction under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) provision regarding vacatur differently than it interpreted the jurisdictional test for a motion to compel under a different part of the statute. However, Badgerow leaves courts, which were already struggling to decipher the Supreme Court’s 2009 decision of Vaden v. Discover Bank, with a significant number of outstanding questions. …

Trade's Mini-Deals, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

The modern consensus is that U.S. trade law is made through statute and through large congressional-executive agreements, both of which maintain Congress' constitutional primacy over the regulation of foreign commerce. Contrary to this understanding, however, short, targeted agreements negotiated by the U.S. executive with foreign trading partners - recently referred to as "mini-deals" - have become a fixture of the trade law landscape over the last three decades in staggering number. More than 1,200 such agreements govern the movement of goods and services in and out of the United States from and to 130 countries. Such deals are not only …

The Lost Cause Of Free Speech, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

No abstract provided.

Divorcing Partners And Fighting Siblings: Using The Collaborative Law Model To Resolve Disputes In Family Businesses, Hayley R. Goodman

University of Miami Business Law Review

This paper focuses on the ways that collaborative law can be used to resolve family business disputes. Such disputes can get ugly and leave families and businesses in shambles after years of fighting and even litigation. Such disputes can involve those between divorcing partners, parents and children, extended family members, and new and ex partners. Sometimes, these disputes cannot be resolved, forcing family members to sell all or part of the company. Moreover, when families try to resolve disputes through litigation, they end up spending a lot of money. Mediation is often used to resolve disputes in the family business …

Cy Prés Settlements In Privacy Class Actions / Acuerdos Cy Prés En Acciones De Clase Sobre Privacidad, Thomas E. Kadri, Ignacio N. Cofone

Articles

This essay considers the potential for using cy prés settlements in privacy class actions. These settlements are a procedural mechanism to overcome distribution challenges in class actions. When it is too burdensome to prove individual claims or too costly to distribute damages to class members, courts on occasions award damages to a charity or non-profit organization involved in work serving the class members' interests. These controversial settlements have been gaining attention in various legal systems. The U.S. Supreme Court recently considered their propriety in Frank v. Gaos, while courts in Canada and several Latin American countries have been experimenting with …

Lamps Plus, Inc. V. Varela: Dark Times Ahead For Class Arbitrations, Joanna Niworowski

University of Miami Law Review

The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) was enacted in 1925 to combat judicial hostility towards arbitration. Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this statute as evidencing a pro-arbitration policy and has upheld the use of arbitration clauses in a variety of contracts. Unfortunately, while the FAA was able to overcome the hostility towards arbitration, it was not able to stop the Court from finding a new target: class arbitrations.

This Comment analyzes the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela. In critiquing the Court’s continued erosion of the availability of class arbitrations, this Comment considers …

Interpretation Of Article V Of The New York Convention In The Eleventh Circuit: Industrial Risk Insurers, Juan C. Garcia, Ivan Bracho Gonzalez

University of Miami Law Review

The widespread use and growing preference for international arbitration over cross-border litigation is primarily due to the existence of a clear and straightforward regime for the enforcement of arbitration agreements and awards. Even though this was not always the case, through the appearance of the New York Convention and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”) Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, the treatment and acceptance of international arbitration in different legal regimes has undergone a harmonization process which has served to develop consistency. That harmonization process, however, has not been completed. Several jurisdictions, even within their own …

A Cure For Every Ill? Remedies For “Pathological” Arbitration Clauses, Harout J. Samra, Ramya Ramachanderan

University of Miami Law Review

Defective arbitration and dispute resolution clauses—widely called “pathological clauses”—may undermine parties’ intent to seek recourse to arbitration rather than the courts. Questions concerning the existence and validity of arbitration clauses are subject to state contract law despite the wide sweep of the Federal Arbitration Act. This Article examines selected common “pathologies” and reviews recent court decisions, including from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and its constituent federal district courts, concerning the enforcement of such clauses.

The International Claims Trade, Kathleen Claussen

Articles

Investments are mobile in the twenty-first century international economy. They are seldom held for their duration by a single owner from a single country. They change hands and they do so for a variety of reasons, often in the course of a dispute. But the scholarship addressing what happens when international investments and legal claims against sovereigns regarding those investments change hands appears only at the margins. The practice of buying and selling claims or claims trading is well known and institutionalized in some areas of domestic litigation. For cross-border investment disputes against sovereigns, however, many of the cases discussing …

Confidentiality Agreements: The Florida Sunshine In Litigation Act, The #Metoo Movement, And Signing Away The Right To Speak, Loune-Djenia Askew

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Process & Industrial Developments Limited V. Nigeria: Exception Under The Fsia When Award Has Been Set Aside By A Court Of The Country “Under The Law Of Which” The Award Was Made, Ndifreke Uwem

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

In March 2018, Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) filed a petition at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to confirm an arbitral award against the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The proceedings were conducted in three phases – jurisdictional, liability, and damages. The arbitration provision in the underlying contract hardly represented a model of clarity. It provided for the application of the Nigerian arbitration act to any dispute between the parties. On the other hand, it specified London as the “venue” of the proceedings. This posed a problem as to whether Nigeria was the juridical seat …

A Court’S Continuing Obligation To Ensure Fairness Of Class Action Settlements, Filip Grzelak

University of Miami Law Review

In April 2010, Deepwater Horizon, a BP-operated drilling rig, exploded killing eleven workers and poisoning the waters of the Gulf of Mexico with 210 million gallons of oil. Some 90,000 cleanup workers become involved in the response; many became sick after exposure to crude oil and Corexit, a chemical used to disperse the oil. A class action against BP ensued. A settlement was reached in 2013 and provided for a two-phased compensation mechanism, which class action experts praised for effectiveness and fairness.

Soon, however, it became clear that the settlement was neither effective nor fair. Many cleanup workers were denied …

Los 60 Años De La Convención De Nueva York Y La Práctica Jurisprudencial Internacional Frente Al Reconocimiento Y Ejecución De Laudos Extranjeros Anulados En La Sede Del Arbitraje, Marlon M. Meza-Salas

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bg Group V. Argentina: A Reiteration Of Undesired Complexity For A Simple Principle: Kompetenz-Kompetenz Under The Faa And The Uncitral Model Law, Ndifreke Uwem

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of The Arbitration Forum As A Response To Mandatory Arbitration, Teresa J. Verges

Articles

No abstract provided.

Justice Beyond Dispute, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

No abstract provided.

Adminization: Gatekeeping Consumer Contracts, Yonathan A. Arbel

Articles

Large companies and debt collectors frequently file unmeritorious claims against consumers. Recent high-profile actions brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against J.P. Morgan, Citibank, and other large debt collectors illustrate the breadth and importance of this phenomenon. Due to the limited financial power of individuals, consumers often do not defend against such baseless claims, which results in the entry of millions of default judgments every year. To combat this problem, policymakers and scholars have explored a variety of court-based solutions that would make it easier for consumers to defend in court, but these prove ineffectual.

To solve the problem …

The South China Sea Arbitration Award, Bernard H. Oxman

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Qui Custodiet Custodes? A Hard Look At International Arbitral Institutions, Jan Paulsson

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Fifty-Eight Proceedings: Domain Name Disputes, Korean Parties, And Wipo Three-Member Panels, Ilhyung Lee

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Convergence Awakens: How Principles Of Proportionality And Calls For Cooperation Are Reshaping The E-Discovery Landscape, Tevor Gillum

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Brazilian Arbitration Law, Arnoldo Wald, Ana Gerdau De Borja

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

This article selects four landmark events: the enactment of Law No. 9.307 on Sept. 23, 1996 (the “1996 Arbitration Law”); (ii) the recognition of the constitutionality of such law by the Supreme Court in 2001; (iii) the ratification of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in 2002; and (iv) the enactment of Law No. 13.129 on May 26, 2015 (the “Amendment”). The first three events are analyzed jointly with the fourth event, in order to identify novel important legal issues involving arbitration in Brazil: (a) subject arbitrability concerning state and state entities; (b) …