Category Archives: Arbitration

David Horton article, Accidental Arbitration, discusses very broad arbitration clauses

David Horton of California, Davis has written Accidental Arbitration, 102 Wash. U. L. Rev. — (forthcoming 2025). Here’s the abstract: The Supreme Court’s muscular interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) has encouraged businesses to insert arbitration clauses in untold millions of contracts. However, this Article explores a subtler way in which arbitration’s kingdom is […]

NY High Court okays Uber “clickwrap” arbitration agreement

In September, I blogged about a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to review an intermediate appellate court decision holding that Uber’s “clickwrap” arbitration agreement was not enforceable under Pennsylvania law, as mutual assent was lacking based on the way it was presented to a user. Today, the New York Court of Appeals issued its own decision […]

Ninth Circuit holds FAA does not apply to mass arbitration provisions

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment, where it affirmed a district order denying a motion to compel mass  arbitration of a consumer antitrust class action about online ticket sales practices by Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Finding the arbitration agreement “borderline unintelligible,” the panel majority held that both the […]

Third Circuit Clarifies Standard for Discovery Into Arbitrability

In Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, L.L.C., 716 F.3d 764 (3d Cir. 2013), the Third Circuit addressed the question of, when considering a motion to compel arbitration,  what standards district courts should apply when determining whether an agreement to arbitrate was actually formed between the parties. The court held that the Rule 12(b)(6) standard […]

Another arbitration provider heard matters in which it had a conflict

Remember how the National Arbitration Forum, also known as NAF, arbitrated disputes involving an affiliated debt collector? Well, the CFPB has banned another arbitration service provider, Ejudicate from consumer arbitrations for a variety of reasons, including that Ejudicate heard matters brought by a party with whom it had a financial relationship, Prehired Recruiting. The CFPB […]

Green article on forced arbitration of discrimination claims

Michael Z. Green of Texas A&M has written Expanding the Ban on Forced Arbitration to Race Claims, 72 Kansas Law Review  455 (2024). Here’s the abstract: When Congress passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“EFASASHA”) in March 2022, it signaled a major retreat from the Supreme Court’s broad enforcement […]

More on “Browse-Wrap” Arbitration

Yesterday, I noted the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had agreed to hear a case involving browse-wrap arbitration agreements. Later in the day, the Seventh Circuit issued a decision concerning one such agreement, finding  that a consumer and a home improvement had entered into a valid and enforceable agreement. Adopting case law from the 9th and 2nd […]

PA Supreme Court to Consider “Browsewrap” Arbitration Agreements

In July 2023, an intermediate appellate court in Pennsylvania decided Chilutti v. Uber Technologies.  There, the court held that a so-called “browsewrap” arbitration agreement was invalid, and that two conditions are necessary to establish an unambiguous manifestation for assent to arbitration via a registration for a website: (1) explicitly stating on the registration websites and […]

Disney withdraws arbitration motion in Disney restaurant wrongful death case after bad publicity

So reports  PHILIP MARCELO of the Associated Press here. This isn’t the first time a company has changed course in an arbitration demand after adverse publicity. Wells Fargo had actually won a motion to send a case to arbitration arising out of its unauthorized account scandal back in 2016, before settling its class action for […]