All posts by Sarah Cole

Opportunity to Participate in Vaden Amicus Brief

March 28, 2008 Sarah Cole 1 Comment

Rick Bales reports on Labor Prof blog at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2008/03/amicus-opportun.html that: Imre Szalai (California Western) is organizing an amicus brief of law professors to be filed in Vaden v. Discover Bank, 07-773. Vaden presents the issue, as described by SCOTUSBlog, of whether a suit seeking to enforce an arbitration obligation under state law is within the … Continue reading Opportunity to Participate in Vaden Amicus Brief →

US News Ranks Law School Dispute Resolution Programs

March 28, 2008 Sarah Cole 2 Comments

Although I am not a big believer in the US News ranking system, today, US News released the Dispute Resolution Program rankings, along with their overall law school rankings. You can find the dispute resolution rankings here: http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/law/dispute. The rankings are as follows: 1. Pepperdine 2. Harvard, University of Missouri-Columbia 4. Hamline 5. Ohio State … Continue reading US News Ranks Law School Dispute Resolution Programs →

Additional Thoughts on Hall Street v. Mattel — Whither Manifest Disregard?

March 26, 2008 Sarah Cole 2 Comments

One of my colleagues expressed concern that the Hall Street decision might eliminate the use of the manifest disregard standard of review. I don’t think it will but am curious if anyone out there disagrees. Here is why I think manifest disregard still exists: The Court said that the manifest disregard standard is different than … Continue reading Additional Thoughts on Hall Street v. Mattel — Whither Manifest Disregard? →

Hall Street Decision Today: Parties Cannot Expand Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards

March 25, 2008 Sarah Cole 4 Comments

The Supreme Court decided Hall Street Associates today. Find the decision at: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/ I am surprised by the 6-3 decision, authored by Justice Souter. The Court emphatically stated that sections 10 and 11 of the FAA are the exclusive grounds for expedited vacatur and modification of arbitration awards. The Court rejected the argument that the … Continue reading Hall Street Decision Today: Parties Cannot Expand Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards →

More on new Supreme Court arbitration case — Discover Bank v. Vaden

March 24, 2008 Sarah Cole

Ross Runkel mentions the Vaden case at: http://www.lawmemo.com/arbitrationblog/ Both scotusblog and lawmemo have the briefs available at http://www.lawmemo.com/supreme/case/vaden/ and http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/todays-orders-23/. Runkel mentions that the case will not be argued until Fall of 2008.

Why American Companies Resolve Disputes Outside of Litigation

March 13, 2008 Sarah Cole

On March 8, the National Arbitration Forum blog reported that Fullbright and Jaworski conducted a survey of American companies which revealed that, “in recent years, American companies of all sizes have become less reliant on outside counsel.” See http://arbitration-forum.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html While the NAF bloggers speculate that the popularity of arbitration may be behind this change, it … Continue reading Why American Companies Resolve Disputes Outside of Litigation →

Supreme Court Decision in Preston Today!

February 20, 2008 Sarah Cole

The question at issue in Preston v. Ferrer, 552 U.S. ___ (February 20, 2008), was whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts state statutes that create primary jurisdiction in a state administrative agency for a dispute arising among parties who have a private arbitration agreement. The Court held, in an unsurprising 8-1 decision, that the … Continue reading Supreme Court Decision in Preston Today! →

Supreme Court hears third arbitration case this term: 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett

February 19, 2008 Sarah Cole

The U.S. Supreme Court just granted certiorari in a third arbitration case for this term!! 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett, — S.Ct. —-, 2008 WL 423540 (U.S.), 76 USLW 3255 (February 19, 2008). The Pyett case will address whether a union-negotiated waiver of employees’ rights to proceed in a judicial forum for federal statutory causes … Continue reading Supreme Court hears third arbitration case this term: 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett →

CAADRS Becomes RSI; New ADR Resources Available

February 11, 2008 Sarah Cole

Resolution Systems Institute, which used to be known as CAADRS, sent this announcement about their new website. It looks like a great new resource for research on court ADR: A NEW WEB SITE FOR A TRUSTED RESOURCE: INTRODUCING COURTADR.ORG Resolution Systems Institute, formerly the Center for Analysis of ADR Systems (CAADRS), announces the launch of … Continue reading CAADRS Becomes RSI; New ADR Resources Available →

Empirical Arbitration Analysis Reveals Companies Prefer Litigation

February 6, 2008 Sarah Cole

Professors Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey Miller and Emily Sherwin investigated a number of Fortune 100 firms’ use of mandatory arbitration clauses. See Arbitration’s Summer Soldiers: An Empirical Study of Arbitration Clauses in Consumer and Nonconsumer Contracts (draft December 18, 2007). Their empirical analysis revealed that companies frequently use arbitration clauses in consumer contracts but do not … Continue reading Empirical Arbitration Analysis Reveals Companies Prefer Litigation →