In Dell Webb Communities, Inc. v. Carlson, No. 45-1385 (4th Cir. Dec. 9, 2015), the Fourth Circuit held that whether parties gave consent to class arbitration is a gateway question of arbitrability for the court, not arbitrators, to decide. Roger and Mary Jo Carlson (“Plaintiffs”), and the PulteGroup, Inc.’s subsidiary, Del Webb Communities, Inc. (“Defendants”) were parties to a sales agreement. Defendants were to purchase a lot and construct a home for Plaintiffs in Hilton Head, South…
In Albaniabeg Ambient Sh.p.k. v. Enel S.p.A. and Enelpower S.p.A., No. 15 Civ. 3283 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 11, 2016),…
In Al Rushaid v. National Oilwell Varco, Inc., No. 15-20260 (5th Cir. Feb. 17, 2016), the Fifth Circuit…
The topic of arbitrator bias has been the subject of two recent English law cases: W Limited v. M SDN BHD [2016] EWHC 422 (Comm) (which was covered in our recent blog post here) and Cofely Ltd v Bingham & Knowles Limited [2016] EWHC 240. These cases provide useful guidance on the factors considered by the English courts when assessing whether an arbitrator is conflicted and the circumstances under which the court will agree to…
One of the central questions considered by the court in Barrier Limited v Redhall Marine Limited [2016] EWHC…
On 19 January 2016, the English High Court in Pencil Hill Ltd v US Citta Di Palermo SpA…
In Nesbitt v. FCNH, Inc., No. 14-1502 (10th Cir. Jan. 5, 2016), the Tenth Circuit upheld the denial of a motion to compel arbitration, finding arbitration prohibitively expensive for Plaintiff under the terms of the arbitration agreement. Plaintiff, a student at a for-profit academic institution offering massage therapy courses, brought a putative class action against the institution under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and state laws for requiring massage therapy students to perform massages on…
Any company that makes sales through the Internet to New Jersey consumers should be aware of a recent…
In Hayes v. Delbert Servs. Corp., No. 15-1170 (4th Cir. Feb. 2, 2016), the Fourth Circuit refused to…
Document production, at least to some extent, is an integral part of most international arbitration proceedings. This is true even if the substantive law governing the dispute follows the civil law tradition. In that case, however, the provisions in the substantive law build upon the premise that there is no document production. Does this lead to a conflict between substantive and procedural law in international arbitration? It can be very difficult for a claimant to…