The Supreme Court Weighs in on Arbitrability, But Questions Remain
1/31/19
By: Ted Peters As reflected in a prior article, the United States Supreme Court recently agreed to take another look at the issue of arbitrability. In the case of Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., the Fifth Circuit concluded that the court, and not an arbitrator, had the power to decide the…
9/14/18
By: Ted Peters The question of arbitrability (i.e., Who decides whether a dispute is arbitrable? The court or the arbitrator(s)?) is as ageless as the conundrum of what came first, the chicken or the egg. In 2010, the Supreme Court decided Rent-a-Center, Vest Inc. v. Jackson, wherein it concluded that agreements to arbitrate questions of…
Using Summary Judgment during the Arbitration Process
2/22/18
By: Erin E. Lamb Many attorneys assume that once a case is in private arbitration, dispositive motions are against the rules and are no longer a useful tool to resolve cases. How could an arbitrator have the power to consider a dispositive motion? After all, arbitration is sold to all parties as a process that all…
Supreme Court Upholds Arbitrator’s Class Ruling
6/14/13
By: Anthony Del Rio This week, in Oxford Health Plans v. Sutter, the Supreme Court upheld the authority of an arbitrator to interpret an agreement to permit class arbitration. While the Court expressed some doubt regarding whether the arbitrator made the correct decision, the Court unanimously agreed that “courts have no business overruling [an arbitrator]…