ADR

By John H Curley on June 23, 2019

Arbitrator ignored Last Chance Agreement – Award vacated The Sixth Circuit has affirmed a District Court decision vacating an award of Arbitrator John M. Felice. Tecnocap, LLC v. Graphic Communications Conference/International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 24M Grievant was terminated after an absence caused by his car breaking down. Relying on a last chance agreement entered into by grievant and the Union, the employer terminated his employment. While acknowledging the LCA, the Arbitrator concluded: The fundamental principle…

Arbitration Nation

First Things First: Who Decides Issues of Subject Matter Arbitrability?

By Henry Allen Blair on June 23, 2019

Happy summer! It’s been far too long since my last update, but rest assured I have been thinking a lot about arbitration. In fact, I’m currently teaching a summer course at Queen Mary University of London’s International School of Arbitration, which is a ton of fun. My teaching, in fact, partly inspired this post. Teaching arbitration in an international context reminds me of the fact that the United State’s permissive “everything can be arbitrated” approach…

Dispute Resolution in Germany

Pledge for Greener Arbitration

By Peter Bert on June 4, 2019

The aptly named Lucy Greenwood is promoting the idea of a Pledge for Greener Arbitrations. Excellent idea – here it is: At all times during the arbitration I will consider and question the need to fly; At all times during the arbitration I will only correspond through electronic means unless hard copy correspondence is expressly required in the circumstances; As an arbitrator, I will not request hard copies of documents to be provided to…

Arbitration Nation

Missouri Reminds Us Just How Small the Bullseye Is for Challenging a Delegation Clause

By Henry Allen Blair on June 1, 2019

Missed — Red target with missed arrows on the white background.

The interplay of the separability doctrine and delegation clauses can create a bullseye that only Hawkeye, the OG Avenger with a bow, might have a prayer of hitting. The Missouri Supreme Court provided a nice reminder about this problem in a recent case, State Ex Rel. Newberry v. Jackson, 2019 WL 2181859 (May 21, 2019). The underlying facts of the case are simple enough: employees filed timely charges of sex, age, and disability discrimination…

Dispute Resolution in Germany

The Month in Retrospect: What Else Happend in May

By Peter Bert on June 1, 2019

The Future is Female In 2017, for the first time, a majority (52%) of lawyers newly admitted to the German bar were women, data published at the Anwaltstag showed. One could see this coming for quite a while, as female law students have outnumbered men for quite a while. Overall, 34% of lawyers are women, and their share has been constantly rising for years. Lawyers Stick to Their Robes The rule-setting body (Satzungsversammlung) of…

Dispute Resolution in Germany

Case of the Week: Brexit Does Not Facilitate Freezing Orders

By Peter Bert on May 31, 2019

In my opinion, obtaining a freezing order (Arrest) against the debtor pending final judgment tends to be rather difficult in this jurisdiction. It is somewhat easier if the debtor is situated abroad: Section 917 para. 2 German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) stipulates that it is sufficient grounds for a freezing order to be issued if the judgment would have to be enforced abroad and there is no reciprocity with the foreign jurisdiction (Arrestgrund der Auslandsvollstreckung).…

Dispute Resolution in Germany

Germany’s Most Exclusive Bar Remains Exclusive

By Peter Bert on May 27, 2019

I have written here before about Germany’s most exclusive bar, the fourty or so lawyers admitted to the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) in civil matters. Every now and then, attempts are being made to reform this part of the German legal system. Mainly, these attempts take the form of challenges in the courts against the way the members of the bar are selected and appointed – thus far, these challenges failed. The current system has…

Dispute Resolution in Germany

Towards a Restatement of Restitution Rules: Research into the International Practice of Nazi-looted Art Restitution:

By Peter Bert on May 24, 2019

Professor Matthias Weller, University of Bonn, (who has contributed to this blog in the past) hat issued the following press release about an exiting new project, which I would like to share with you: “In April 2019, research began at the University of Bonn on international practice in the restitution of artworks stolen under the Nazi regime. Head of the research project is Prof. Dr. Matthias Weller, who holds the “Alfried Krupp von…

Arbitration Nation

California Sun! An International Dispute Resolution Conference at Pepperdine

By Henry Allen Blair on May 7, 2019

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If you’re in California or looking for a good reason to get to Malibu (like you need a good reason besides the fact that it’s Malibu), you should think about an upcoming dispute resolution conference on June 18-19 at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine School of Law. The conference, entitled Appreciating Our Legacy and Engaging the Future: An International Conference for Dispute ResolutionTeachers, Scholars, and Leaders, will bring together leading dispute resolution teachers, scholars,…

Arbitration Nation

Arbitration 101: If It Walks and Quacks Like a Duck . . . It’s Arbitration!

By Henry Allen Blair on May 7, 2019

"Know the rules" handwritten with white chalk on a blackboard

The Second Circuit just reminded us that there’s nothing magical about the label “arbitration” and, despite it being a good idea to include it, there’s nothing magical about using – or failing to use – phrases like “final and binding” in an arbitral clause. In Milligan v. CCC Information Services, Inc., 920 F.3d 146 (2d Cir. 2019), the court was faced with an appraisal process in an auto insurance policy. The underlying dispute involved…