All posts by Sarah Cole

Hall Street, Judicial Review of Arbitral Awards, and Federal Preemption

Another take on the implications of Hall Street. This article discusses the fate of the manifest disregard standard and considers whether parties may have avenues other than the FAA for obtaining review of their arbitration awards: “Hall Street, Judicial Review of Arbitral Awards, and Federal Preemption” NICHOLAS R. WEISKOPF, St. John’s University – School of … Continue reading Hall Street, Judicial Review of Arbitral Awards, and Federal Preemption →

Proposed Legislation Designed to Avoid Arbitration of Tort Claims

The Daily Labor Report notes that Senators Al Franken and Mary Landrieu proposed legislation designed to address some of the issues raised by the Jamie Leigh Jones case. That case, discussed in one of my earlier posts, addressed the question whether an employee of Halliburton could be required to arbitrate her rape claims as well … Continue reading Proposed Legislation Designed to Avoid Arbitration of Tort Claims →

Interesting Interactive Devices for Classroom Use

Just learned about a blog, written by Adrienne Carlson, that has links to a number of devices to be used in the classroom. It looks like some of them would be useful for teaching dispute resolution. See http://www.accreditedonlineuniversities.com/100-best-open-source-apps-for-educators/ (look at CoFFEE and Mando, in particular).

Fifth Circuit Decides Arbitration Clause Scope Issue

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Another interesting case from the Daily Labor Report: Fifth Circuit 2-1 Affirms Lower Court Ruling Some KBR Injury Claims Were Not Arbitrable A former employee of Halliburton Co. who alleges that she was raped by other employees while working for the defense contractor in Iraq is not required by her employment contract to arbitrate claims … Continue reading Fifth Circuit Decides Arbitration Clause Scope Issue →

Ninth Circuit Has Interesting Ruling on Unconscionability

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The Daily Labor Report states: “Court Must Decide Unconscionability, Not Arbitrator, Ninth Circuit Rules 2-1 A former account manager for a rent-to-own company in Nevada is entitled to have a court decide whether the arbitration agreement he signed as a condition of employment is unconscionable under state contract law, even though the agreement specifies that … Continue reading Ninth Circuit Has Interesting Ruling on Unconscionability →

ADRWorld Discontinued

Very sad news today, from my perspective. ADRWorld will no longer be publishing its very useful subscription service. Announcement here: It is with regret that we announce that effective September 1, 2009, ADRWorld.com will be discontinued. Letters containing important refund information are now being sent to subscribers; please watch for this notification with the red … Continue reading ADRWorld Discontinued →

USA Today has story on lawsuit against NAF

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See the USA Today story discussing the case at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/credit/2009-07-14-credit-card-arbitration-firm-lawsuit_N.htm While I don’t necessarily agree that NAF’s potentially problematic financial arrangements impugns the integrity of consumer arbitration generally, I agree that, if proven true, these allegations seriously challenge NAF as an independent, neutral provider of arbitrator services for consumer arbitration. It will be sad if … Continue reading USA Today has story on lawsuit against NAF →

Copenhangen Climate Change Conference Needs ADR Input

From Ken Cloke: The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference: What You Can Do In December 2009, delegates from around the world will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Copenhagen will provide a critical opportunity for the world’s nations to … Continue reading Copenhangen Climate Change Conference Needs ADR Input →

Interesting Take on Arbitration Fairness Act by E. Gary Spitko

My friend and former co-author, E. Gary Spitko, will be publishing an article offering a critique of the Arbitration Fairness Act in the U.C. Davis Law Review. Gary offers an alternative to the very anti-arbitration stance currently articulated in the proposed Act. Gary’s abstract describes his article as follows: On February 12, 2009, lawmakers in … Continue reading Interesting Take on Arbitration Fairness Act by E. Gary Spitko →