Dispute Resolution Journal

Adr Center in Bahrain Marks Many 'Firsts'

When the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution-AAA (BCDR-AAA) formally opened its doors last January, it marked many "firsts." The result of a partnership between the AAA and Bahrain's Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs, the center is the first organization of its kind to provide a formal system of ADR services in Bahrain. Bahrain's unique ADR law establishes the Persian Gulf island nation as a neutral venue for multinational companies who choose to resolve their disputes through intern...

Obama Signs Dod Spending Bill Barring Employment Arbitration by Military Contractors

Pres. Signs Legislation Authorizing Arbitration of Car Dealership Terminations

After giving federal bailout money to two automobile manufacturers that were severely hurt by the economic recession, and allowing them to reduce their dealership networks, Congress passed, and Pres Obama recently signed, legislation that allows the terminated dealerships to appeal their terminations through arbitration under a special binding, fast-track arbitration program administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Arbitrators for the program are selected from the AAA panel...

Labor Case Before Supreme Court Raises Arbitrability Issue

This term the US Supreme Court will address the arbitrability of a dispute involving a challenge to the formation of a labor contract. Granite Rock Co v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) (No. 08-1214) involves the following issue: "Does a federal court have jurisdiction to determine whether a collective bargaining agreement was formed when it is disputed whether any binding contract exists, but no party makes an independent challenge to the arbitration clause apart from claiming i...

Supreme Court Hears Argument in Stolt-Nielsen

On Dec 9, 2009, the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds, where the question presented was whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) permits classwide proceedings where the arbitration agreement is silent with respect to such claims. The Court's decision in Stolt-Nielsen will have a direct impact on the future of class action arbitrations, and may also have an effect on the future of class action waivers and litigation regarding the enforceability of s...

Supreme Court Grants Review in Arbitrability Case

Rent-a-Center West v. Antonio Jackson (No. 09-497) involved a statutory discrimination claim by an employee against his employer. Because the question presented concerns "all cases," the outcome in Rent-a-Center could affect far more than just employment cases in which the doctrine of unconscionability is asserted to challenge the enforceability of the arbitration agreement. The district court ruled in favor of Rent-a-Center, holding that the issues of unconscionability and enforcement of the...

Finra Panel Awards Elderly Investor Treble Damages Under Financial Elder Abuse Law

A panel of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitrators, made up of two public arbitrators and one non-public arbitrator, awarded a trust for a 96-year-old investor treble damages under the California Financial Elderly Abuse law, and assessed the brokerage firm and brokers sanctions for discovery abuse. The statement of claim, filed Mar 17, 2009, by David Wolfson Living Trust, alleged numerous common law and statutory causes of action against StockCross Financial Services of Be...

Florida Supreme Court Orders Residential Foreclosures to Mediation

On Dec 28, 2009, Peggy A. Quince, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, signed an administrative order requiring "managed mediation" for all residential foreclosure cases filed in the state courts. In Order No. AOSC09-54, the Florida Supreme Court approved with minor changes the recommendations made in a final report by the 15-member Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Cases issued last August. The task force developed "parameters" for qualifying providers, which the court...

Do Foreclosure Mediation Programs Help Homeowners Prevent Loss of Their Homes?

Although many states and localities have or are now considering mediation foreclosure programs, some mandatory and some voluntary, questions have been raised about their effectiveness in keeping families in their homes. The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) report, which reviewed 25 existing state and local foreclosure mediation programs, offered recommendations to improve the performance of such programs. One recommendation would require lenders to negotiate in good faith and subject them ...

Mediation Goes to the Dogs

Living side by side in apartment buildings or in private homes on closely spaced suburban lots often leads to conflict between neighbors. The list of conflict triggers is long, but pets behaving badly and owners who can't control them are often at the top of the list. Dog barking complaints are so common that some jurisdictions have ordinances targeting this problem while others deal with this issue under general noise regulations. A process that works much better is mediation, writes Janice ...

The Arbitration of Employment Disputes in the Securities Industry: A Study of Finra Awards, 1986-2008

The arbitration of employment disputes has been the subject of intense interest in recent years. On the one hand, proponents of the process maintain that arbitration provides a faster and cheaper means of resolving employment disputes than litigation. On the other hand, despite numerous supportive decisions on arbitration by the US Supreme Court, opponents argue that arbitration is not an adequate substitute for a judicial forum because it does not provide a level playing field. This article ...

Bahrain Partners with Aaa to Launch Adr Center

On Jan 11, 2010, the Kingdom of Bahrain formally launched a dispute resolution chamber in the capital city of Manama. The center is an initiative of Bahrain's Ministry of Justice, in partnership with the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The center will be known formally as the BCDR-AAA. The legislation establishing the center creates a statutory arbitration caseload by requiring financial disputes involving more than $1.3 million to be arbitrated if they involve an international party ...

International Notes

Ireland Updates Its Arbitration Regime with a New Law

On Mar 9, 2010, Mary McAleese, Ireland's president, signed into law the Arbitration Act 2010, thereby concluding a legislative process initiated by the Irish Government in June 2008. The new arbitration law replaces all three existing arbitration statutes with one comprehensive act. The most significant feature of the 2010 Act is that all court applications prescribed under the UNCITRAL Model Law are to be handled exclusively by the High Court. Also, all applications to the court are to be de...

What's New in Latin American Adr?

The enforcement of arbitration agreements involving non-signatories is an issue that draws the attention of practitioners and academia alike. There are two interesting precedents from Brazilian courts on this interesting (and potentially dispositive) issue. In Trelleborg v. Anel, the Sao Paulo State Court of Appeals (Appeal no. 267.450.4/6-00, 7th Chamber of Private Law, Reporting Justice Constanca Gonzaga, May 24, 2006), in a unanimous decision, enforced an agreement to arbitrate against a n...

What's New in European Arbitration?

A recent decision of the English High Court (F Ltd. v M Ltd. (2009) EWHC 275 (TCC)) confirmed that the Court may allow a challenge to an arbitral award when the arbitral proceedings caused substantial injustice to the applicant. The applicant in this case challenged the arbitral award alleging that the majority of the arbitral tribunal relied on a ground raised by the tribunal itself without giving the applicant an opportunity to make submissions thereon. The Court held that the tribunal had ...

Aba Delegates Approve 'Rotterdam Rules' Resolution

Iba Proposes Guidelines for Drafting Arbitration Clauses

Debevoise Issues Efficiency Protocol

Waiver of Privilege Under Federal Evidence Rule 502 and Arbitration Proceedings

Federal Rule of Evidence 502, which was amended in 2007 to develop a uniform treatment of intentional and inadvertent disclosure of privileged information in arbitration and court-related arbitration, provides guidance for practitioners on how to prevent a court from finding a subject matter waiver as a result of an inadvertent production of a privileged document. In addition to analyzing the amended rule, this article discusses recent case law suggesting that the amended rule applies to priv...

Arbitrating Disputes Between Companies and Individuals: Lessons From Abroad

The authors surveyed the approaches of four European countries, Canada and Australia to determine the accuracy of the U.S. perception that foreign countries ban all predispute arbitration clauses in the consumer and employment contexts. They find no such bans in the countries surveyed. This finding casts doubt on the argument that Congress should adopt the Arbitration Fairness Act in order to bring the United States into alignment with foreign countries. Accordingly, the authors recommend tha...

Unique Considerations for the International Arbitration of Intellectual Property Disputes

In the US the use of arbitration to resolve domestic intellectual property (IP) disputes has been steadily increasing for several years now. However, in the international field, arbitration of IP disputes has not increased significantly over time. There are at least two reasons for this. First, the perceived advantages of international arbitration are not always available where the subject of the arbitration is IP. Second, there are significant disadvantages that must be overcome or worked ar...

Why These Economic Times Call for Outsourcing the Administration of Labor Arbitration Cases

Cost savings is essential in these hard economic times for both labor and management. The labor-management community has historically used arbitration in lieu of litigation to save money. This article explains how additional cost savings can be achieved by using administered rather than self-administered arbitration.

What Would You Change About Mediation?

Last fall, Matthew Rushton, British editor of The Mediator Magazine, posted a thought-provoking article on his blog titled "Six Things I'd Change About Mediation." Rushton's six suggestions for change can be summarized as follows: 1. Accept the reality that the market is insufficient to employ all mediators. 2. Eliminate the presumption that mediation is morally superior to litigation. 3. Stop overselling training. 4. Reallocate existing resources, experience and goodwill. 5. Promote a wider ...

The 'Rotterdam Rules' and Arbitration: Questions and Warning Signs

A new convention on contracts for carriage by sea contains arbitration provisions that will require some untangling. This article discusses some of the issues they raise.

The New Bahrain Arbitration Law and the Bahrain 'Free Arbitration Zone'

The Kingdom of Bahrain's new arbitration legislation, Legislative Decree No. 30, gives parties to an agreement calling for international arbitration the option of holding the arbitration in Bahrain without concern that the courts of Bahrain might interfere with, or set aside, the resulting award, as long as the parties seek to enforce the award only in another country. The result is the creation of what this article will call the Bahrain "Free Arbitration Zone." In spite of the convenience of...

The Impact of the Financial Crisis On International Arbitration

Some commentators have come right out with a prediction that legal disputes increase in a difficult economy. One opined that the Global Financial Crisis presents diverse opportunities for arbitration practitioners. The suggestion that arbitration is experiencing a boom seems to be supported by reports that law firms are riding "a wave of arbitration and litigation" in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. To test the notion of an arbitration boom, the author inquired at some of the leading inte...

Review of Court Decisions