Arbitration Agreements Archives

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: New Jersey appellate court holds that arbitration clause failed to include sufficiently clear waiver of Plaintiff’s right to litigate claims in court and reverses order dismissing complaint and compelling arbitration.

December 17, 2018 by Baker McKenzie 3 Mins Read

Kiraly v. Forcepoint, Inc., No. A-2676-17T1 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Oct. 2, 2018) [click for opinion] In January 2015, Plaintiff was hired by Defendant Forcepoint, Inc. as a member of its sales force. In November 2015, Plaintiff was terminated. Plaintiff brought an action under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and also brought a common law claim for malicious interference with economic relations. In her complaint, Plaintiff alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and a hostile…

In Arbitration Agreements

Belgium: Arbitration Clause in Agreements with FIFA and UEFA held Invalid

November 12, 2018 by Michael De Vroey and Margo Allaerts 5 Mins Read

The Court of Appeal in Brussels has recently handed down an important ruling on the validity of arbitration clauses. Under Belgian law, any dispute relating to a ‘defined legal relationship’ can be submitted to arbitration. As such, an arbitration clause must define the scope of any potential dispute arising between the parties. By a judgement of 4 September 2018, the Brussels Court of Appeal essentially held that the absence of such delimitation will cause the…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: District court compels arbitration based on Defendant’s practice of including in its “self install” kits a subscriber agreement with an arbitration clause.

October 8, 2018 by Michael Bloom 2 Mins Read

Zacher v. Comcast Cable Commc’ns, No. 17-cv-7256 (N.D. Ill. June 20, 2018) [click for opinion] Plaintiff brought a…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: District court grants ICDR arbitral immunity on arbitrability issue raised prior to appointment of tribunal, and finds use of Texas attorneys and choice of Texas law in a contract calling for arbitration in Paris insufficient to support personal jurisdiction.

October 1, 2018 by Laura Zimmerman and David Zaslowsky 4 Mins Read

Wartsila N. America, Inc. v. Int’l Centre for Dispute Resolution, No. H-18-1531 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 15, 2018) [click…

In Arbitration Agreements

England and Wales: Lost in Translation: Interpreting foreign language arbitration clauses

September 28, 2018 by Ben Ko 6 Mins Read

The Commercial Court has upheld a challenge under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (“AA 1996”) to an arbitral award in which the Tribunal ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over the dispute. The Tribunal’s decision was based upon its interpretation of the arbitration clause in a Russian language contract governed by English law, the meaning of which was ambiguous in translation. The case of A v B [2018] EWHC 1370 (Comm) underscores the care…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: Supreme Court holds that class and collective action waivers in employment arbitration agreements are enforceable under federal labor law and the Federal Arbitration Act.

August 15, 2018 by 4 Mins Read

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) [click for opinion] In these three consolidated cases,…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: New York Supreme Court holds that when a parties’ agreement specifically incorporates or references arbitration rules that give the tribunal the authority to rule on its own jurisdiction, courts should allow the arbitrators to decide validity issues.

July 30, 2018 by 3 Mins Read

Footprint Power Salem Harbor Dev., L.P. v. Iberdrola Energy Products, Inc., Index No. 651963/2018 (NY Sup. Ct. May…

In Arbitration Agreements

Australia: Arbitration Agreements

July 19, 2018 by Jo Delaney and Natalie Wee 7 Mins Read

This excerpt originally appeared in the Baker McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2017-2018. The Yearbook comprises reports on arbitration in key jurisdictions around the globe. You can access the Yearbook here. The country chapter “Australia” can be found here. In recent years, the Australian courts have given detailed consideration to the interpretation of arbitration agreements for the purpose of staying court proceedings under Section 7 of the IAA and Article 8 of the UNCITRAL Model Law.…