The LA Times is reporting that Uber has lost its bid for arbitration in a suit brought by its drivers. According to the article, a federal judge in San Francisco found that the arbitration clauses in the 2013 and 2014 Uber contracts with its drivers unenforceable because they “are both procedurally and substantively unconscionable.” The … Continue reading The Next California Arbitration Case to Go to the Supreme Court?
This post stimulated a conversation with Peter Benner about planned early dispute resolution (PEDR), beginning with the exchange of comments below. There are six additional posts in this conversation. At the end of each post, there is a link to the next post in the conversation. _______________________________________________________________ Early mediation is a waste of time. This … Continue reading Planning is Critically Important for Early Dispute Resolution
A financially struggling middle-class family receives a briefcase with $100K and must make a decision: keep the money; share the money with another struggling family; or give all the money away to that other struggling family. Before making this decision, they have an opportunity to learn more about the other struggling family. They have 72 … Continue reading New show: The Briefcase
Adam Zimmerman (Loyola LA), a rising star in our field, is guest blogging over at Prawfs this month and he has a thoughtful take on Jean’s recent post on the recent Wellness Int’l v. Sharif case discussing the constitutionality of Bankruptcy and US Magistrate Judges. Adam has some other posts of interests there, notably about … Continue reading Zimmerman on Sternlight’s Article III and Arbitration Post
I can’t resist commenting on Andrea’s lighthearted post showing a sign at a Starbuck’s with President John F. Kennedy’s famous statement, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate!” This reminds me of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s statement, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” I … Continue reading Fear and Negotiation
In her post this week, Jean Sternlight argues that the logic of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Wellness Int’l Network v. Sharif casts doubt on the constitutionality of private mandatory arbitration, at least as applied to consumers and employees. She challenges the insistence by the Court’s pro-arbitration Justices that arbitration does not implicate constitutional rights ecause arbitrators … Continue reading Another View of the Arbitration Cathedral–Further Thoughts on Sharif
I spent most of the past two days at a wonderful conference – ODR 2015, hosted by Pace Law School (at the University’s downtown NYC campus), listening to fellow online dispute resolution enthusiasts from across the U.S. as well as from countries such as England, Canada, Nigeria, Israel, China, New Zealand, Belgium, Malaysia, Japan, and … Continue reading ODR 2015
Okay–this is not that intellectual but this was this morning’s quote to greet me when picking up my (mandatory) morning coffee. [Click on the full post to see the picture] Caffeine and inspiration all at the same time! Happy Summer to all.
Our good friend Jean Sternlight (UNLV) sends along her opinions on Sharif, one of last week’s Supreme Court cases and how it impacts the Federal Arbitration Act. The Supreme Court’s most recent Article III decision, Wellness Int’l v. Sharif (2015), raises substantial questions as to the constitutional legitimacy of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. … Continue reading Sternlight – Asking Tough Questions About Mandatory Arbitration and Article III
Three days ago, the Nevada Supreme Court released an opinion in the case of Weddell v. Sharp et al. (Here). Although it has facts that would make ADR & Civ Pro professors fairly swoon, the opinion itself is maddening. Both the majority and the dissent. Sigh. Based on reading the opinion, I understand the basic … Continue reading A Maddening Nevada Supreme Court Case
