Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Investor Protection Meets The Federal Arbitration Act, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In the past three decades, most recently in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, the United States Supreme Court has advanced an aggressive pro-arbitration campaign, transforming the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) into a powerful source of anti-consumer substantive arbitration law. In the aftermath of AT&T Mobility, which upheld a prohibition on class actions in a consumer contract despite state law that refused to enforce such provisions on unconscionability grounds, efforts have been made to prohibit investors from bringing class actions or joining claims, including claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). In the most egregious example to …

The Revolution In Family Law Dispute Resolution, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

This article surveys a wide range of procedures that divorcing parties now use, including self-representation. Lawyers sometimes provide “unbundled” legal services to help parties who want to divide responsibilities for legal tasks between themselves and their lawyers. Parties often use mediation, arbitration, and private judging. Norms for lawyers’ professional roles have emphasized the importance of cooperation and some lawyers offer “planned early negotiation” processes such as Collaborative and Cooperative Law. Family courts engage in a wide range of activities beyond traditional litigation and adjudication. Many courts manage or mandate parent education and services related to domestic violence. Courts regularly appoint …

Border Skirmishes: The Intersection Between Litigation And International Commercial Arbitration, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

This essay considers the tension between the autonomous theory of international commercial arbitration and the more interactive theory advanced by Gary Born during his keynote address at the recent “Border Skirmishes” symposium at the University of Missouri School of Law. In his presentation, Born considered the relationship between litigation and international commercial arbitration and distinguished between permissible “border crossings” and impermissible “border incursions.” This essay considers how these concepts play out both in routine interactions between courts and tribunals and more in difficult scenarios, such as those involving anti-suit injunctions. The discussion also presents statistics concerning the amount of ancillary …

Arbitration Of Trust Disputes: Two Bodies Of Law Collide, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

This article considers the various issues that arise when two separate bodies of law – trust law and arbitration law – collide, using recent developments in the field of international commercial arbitration to address some of the more intransigent problems facing trust arbitration. The article focuses on five areas of concern: the potential for impermissible ouster of the courts, the operability and effectiveness of the arbitration provision, the extent to which the arbitration provision is binding on the party against whom arbitration is asserted, proper representation of parties and arbitrability. In so doing, this article introduces a number of new …

Public Civil Discourse: A New Domain For Dispute Resolution, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

We in dispute resolution can view civil discourse about public issues - a direct, deliberative way of exercising democracy itself - as a new but related field in which we can apply our skills and services, and this theme edition of Dispute Resolution Magazine is intended to help those of us in dispute resolution cross the isthmus into what for many of us is the new world of civil discourse.

Unchecked: How Frazier V. Citifinancial Eliminated Judicially Created Grounds For Vacatur Under The Federal Arbitration Act, Sean C. Wagner

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Arbitration Fairness Act: It Need Not And Should Not Be An All Or Nothing Proposition, Martin H. Malin

Indiana Law Journal

Labor and Employment Law Under the Obama Administration: A Time for Hope and Change? Symposium held November 12-13, 2010, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana.

Employment Arbitration 2011: A Realist View, Laura J. Cooper

Indiana Law Journal

Labor and Employment Law Under the Obama Administration: A Time for Hope and Change? Symposium held November 12-13, 2010, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana.

Interference Of The Court Of The Seat With International Arbitration, The Symposium, Giulia Carbone

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This article looks upon two fundamental questions: (1) whether arbitrators should comply with a local court's order aimed at suspending or interrupting the running of arbitral proceedings, and (2) what type of remedies should a party receive when courts unjustly interfere with their right to arbitrate. This article will explore these two questions in four parts. Part II focuses on the interference with international commercial arbitration by the court at the place of the arbitration. It does so by taking into account ICC cases, some relevant national judgments, and deals with the solutions offered by Articles 8 and 16 of …

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Must The District Court Issue A Stay After A Decision Adverse To Arbitration Is Appealed, And To What Extent Are Arbitration Clauses Applied Retroactively Note, Benjamin Faber

Journal of Dispute Resolution

By creating new rules to fill in the gaps left by the FAA, the federal circuit courts may have muddied the waters of how and why parties assent to arbitration, and the ramifications of their decisions could change how and why parties bind themselves and each other to arbitration in the future. This note will address these issues in six remaining parts. Part II will briefly outline the pertinent facts of Levin." Part III addresses the circuit split on whether federal courts should issue an automatic stay of legislation pending an appeal to compel arbitration under § 16(a)(1)(A) of the …

Navigating The Borders Between International Commercial Arbitration And U.S. Federal Courts: A Jurisprudential Gps Symposium, S. I. Strong

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Finally, the purpose of this Article is not to provide answers to particular questions, since far too much depends on the individual facts and circumstances of a particular dispute to allow for abstract generalizations. Instead, the goal is to identify a useful framework for analysis of matters relating to international commercial arbitration so that newcomers and infrequent participants in this area of law can approach their specific concerns with a higher degree of understanding and sophistication.

Unconscionable Construction: How The Ninth Circuit Evades The Faa By Severing Arbitration Agreements As Unconscionable Note, Daniel B. Mitchell

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Bridge Fund Capital Corp. v. FastBucks Franchise Corp. illustrates a recent manifestation of an ongoing judicial hostility to arbitration. As the Supreme Court has developed its FAA jurisprudence to limit the severance of arbitration agreements, many lower courts have continued to develop legal justifications to circumvent these restrictions. The FAA's savings clause does afford some latitude for severance of arbitration agreements, but the Supreme Court has not yet defined the limits of the savings clause, nor whether the general contract defense and their justifications are sufficient to supersede FAA policy. Bridge Fund shows how the doctrine of unconscionability it being …

New Use Of The Doctrine Of Unconscionability To Invalidate Arbitration Agreements In Consumer Contracts, The Note, Valerie Dixon

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Manfredi v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield suggests that this old judicial hostility is alive and well in Missouri jurisprudence. In an effort to level the playing field between parties of unequal bargaining power, Missouri courts have applied the unconscionability doctrine as a way to sidestep the United States Supreme Court's asserted policy favoring arbitration over litigation.7 This note considers the new approach of Missouri courts in invalidating arbitration agreements through the doctrine of unconscionability in the consumer context.

Claim-Suppressing Arbitration: The New Rules, David S. Schwartz

Indiana Law Journal

Binding, pre-dispute arbitration imposed on the weaker party in an adhesion contract—so-called “mandatory arbitration”—should be recognized for what it truly is: claim-suppressing arbitration. Arguments that such arbitration processes promote access to dispute resolution have been refuted and should not continue to be made without credible empirical support. Drafters of such arbitration clauses are motivated to reduce their liability exposure and, in particular, to eliminate class claims against themselves. Furthermore, claim-suppressing arbitration violates two fundamental principles of due process: it allows one party to the dispute to make the disputing rules; and it gives the adjudicative role to a decision maker …

Reading Ricci And Pyett To Provide Racial Justice Through Union Arbitration, Michael Z. Green

Indiana Law Journal

Labor and Employment Law Under the Obama Administration: A Time for Hope and Change? Symposium held November 12-13, 2010, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana

The Irony Of At&T V. Concepcion, Colin P. Marks

Indiana Law Journal

This Essay explores the possible dual readings of Concepcion in light of the FAA and its interpretation, including Supreme Court precedents. This Essay concludes that though there is support for interpreting the Concepcion decision narrowly, it is more likely that a broader interpretation was intended, but the metes and bounds of this opinion have yet to be explored. Nonetheless, under this broad interpretation, the effect on consumers will be to discourage individuals from seeking redress for their claims. Indeed, the decision may actually encourage businesses to breach contractual obligations with impunity when the individual sums owed are too small to …

Public Input For City Budgeting Using E-Input, Face-To-Face Discussions, And Random Sample Surveys: The Willingness Of An American Community To Increase Taxes, Alan Tomkins, Rick D. Hoppe, Mitch Herian, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Nancy Shank

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

Regular public input into a city's budget is frequently associated with municipal budgeting in Brazilian cities, successes in public engagement that have been emulated around the world. American communities are adopting the practice to varying degrees. This paper will report on a five-year old public input program that is taking place in Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital city of a politically conservative state in the U.S. We discuss the processes we use to engage the public about the City's budget. The process includes regular online input as well as face-to-face, deliberative discussions. On occasions, random sample surveys also have been used. …

Border Skirmishes: The Intersection Between Litigation And International Commercial Arbitration, S. I. Strong

Faculty Articles

National courts are becoming increas­ingly involved with international commercial arbitration. Although this observa­tion may be disheartening to those who support the autonomy of the international arbitral regime, the continued interaction between courts and tribunals is less troubling to those who view international commercial arbitration as a "hybrid" method of dispute resolution, with numerous opportunities for permissible "border crossings. "

That is not to say that courts can or should become involved with every as­pect of arbitration. Instead, impermissible "border incursions" diminish the effec­tiveness of international commercial arbitration and could erode public or private support for the international arbitral regime. Therefore, …

Navigating The Borders Between International Commercial Arbitration And U.S. Federal Courts: A Jurisprudential Gps, S. I. Strong

Faculty Articles

Thus, this Article aims to provide newcomers to and infrequent users of international commercial arbitration with a brief introduction to the relationship between international arbitral proceedings and U.S. federal courts. Limitations of space mean that a great deal has necessarily been left out of this discussion. For example, this Article does not describe processes internal to the arbitration, in­stead focusing solely on the interaction between tribunal, parties and court. Fur­thermore, the text often skips over basic propositions of U.S. law that are well­-established in the domestic realm so as to concentrate more heavily on elements that are unique to international …

Microinvestment Disputes, Perry Bechky

Faculty Articles

Salini v. Morocco sparked one of the liveliest controversies in the dynamic field of international investment disputes. Salini held that the word “investment” in the Convention establishing the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), although undefined, has an objective meaning that limits the ability of member states to submit disputes to ICSID arbitration. The Salini debate is central to this field because it shapes the nature, purpose, and volume of ICSID arbitration—and also determines who gets to decide those matters. In particular, Salini’s decision to include “a contribution to development” as an element of its objective definition of …