Not Exactly News

The NY Times published an article today announcing that plea bargaining is often coercive due to potentially harsh criminal sentences. Potentially long sentences and the “trial penalty” are well-known facts to professionals in the criminal justice system. Defendants are regularly threatened with longer terms if they exercise their right to trial. Defendants who do not … Continue reading Not Exactly News

Second Circuit expands FINRA’s arbitration jurisdiction

In a decision with potentially far-reaching importance for the scope of permissible arbitrations in FINRA’s dispute resolution forum, the Second Circuit held yesterday that an issuer who purchases auction-facilitating services for its auction rate securities from a broker-dealer is a “customer” of that broker-dealer within the meaning of FINRA Rule 12200.  See UBS Financial Services Inc. … Continue reading Second Circuit expands FINRA’s arbitration jurisdiction

Hall Street, Manifest Disregard, and the Worst of All Possible Worlds

We have now had enough time since the Supreme Court’s decision in Hall Street Assocs., LLC v. Mattel, Inc. to assess the “manifest disregard” standard for vacatur of an arbitral award, and it seems apparent that the results are not good. Effectively, the courts, including the Supreme Court, have left arbitration law with the worst … Continue reading Hall Street, Manifest Disregard, and the Worst of All Possible Worlds

Gary Born to be keynote speaker at symposium on international arbitration

Here is an announcement about an interesting symposium on international arbitration: On October 21, 2011, keynote speaker Gary Born leads an international group of experts in a frank discussion of issues that can arise when parties combine litigation tactics with international commercial arbitration.  The symposium, entitled “Border Skirmishes: The Intersection Between Litigation and International Commercial … Continue reading Gary Born to be keynote speaker at symposium on international arbitration

Announcing the 2011 Beckley Student Writing Competition on Securities Arbitration

Please pass along this announcement to any law students who might be interested: Sponsored by Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, the James E. Beckley Student Writing Competition is a writing contest for law students interested in Securities Arbitration and Securities Law. First Prize is $1000, Second Prize is $750, and Third Prize is $500. The PIABA Bar Journal Board-of-Editors publish the … Continue reading Announcing the 2011 Beckley Student Writing Competition on Securities Arbitration

We don’t need to teach negotiation skills anymore?

That is the question raised by this post on the Legal Skills Prof Blog.  The authors worry that the rise of technology-driven negotiations (e.g., software algorithms that can produce optimal settlement terms for parties) will replace the need for lawyers to negotiate for their clients.  Really?  Can we really automate the important search for underlying … Continue reading We don’t need to teach negotiation skills anymore?

SEC Commissioner Walter on Mandatory Arbitration

Courtesy of the Securities Law Prof Blog, read here SEC Commissioner’s Elisse B. Walter’s comments on mandatory securities arbitration at the annual NASAA Conference.  The SEC has implied for some time now that it will review securities arbitration, but other Dodd-Frank rule-making mandates have taken up all of its time.  It will be interesting to … Continue reading SEC Commissioner Walter on Mandatory Arbitration

SCOTUSblog Kicks Off Symposium on Arbitration and the Court

From SCOTUSblog earlier this week: Guest contributors consider the implications of the Court’s recent arbitration decisions, including AT&T v. Concepcion, Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds, Rent-A-Center v. Jackson, and Hall Street v. Mattel. In our final symposium before the October Term begins, guest contributors (listed below in alphabetical order) will consider questions relating to the Court’s Federal … Continue reading SCOTUSblog Kicks Off Symposium on Arbitration and the Court