A George Bailey “Hat Trick” – Et Tu, 9th Circuit? Several months ago in this blog I described a “hat trick,” which is a hockey term for when a player scores three (or more) goals in one game. For those who have somehow eluded ever seeing the holiday classic “It’s a wonderful Life,” the other…
Late last month in this blog, I wrote that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) was “cruisin’ for a bruisin’” on its arbitration policy. To review, and borrowing heavily from my own work, the NLRB had ruled previously in the D.R. Horton matter that a predispute arbitration agreement (“PDAA”) containing a class action waiver violated…
Recent media reports have focused on the challenges facing the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) dispute resolution forum as it grapples with an expected influx of arbitration cases resulting from bonds issued by Puerto Rico. To review, concerns arose last year about the stability of bonds issued by the Commonwealth. As a result, interest rates…
Readers of this blog know I love predicting the future, mainly because people cannot definitively say you are wrong unless they claim to be from the future. Years later, they can always follow up on your predictions, but that takes tenacity and a good memory. With that in mind, hear this: sooner or later, the…
My previous blog posts here on the A-Rod affair contained some free advice, specifically that A-Rod had no chance convincing the federal district court to overturn the arbitration award against him. Maybe A-Rod reads my blog posts, because late last week he gave up the ghost and withdrew his lawsuit. While this matter has drawn…
As a young executive (which you can read as “many, many, years ago”) at the American Arbitration Association I recall making a presentation to a law firm on why they should recommend to clients that they include arbitration agreements in their contacts. I enthusiastically extolled the many benefits of arbitration, such as speed and simplicity….
I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,” said Howard Beale in the Movie Network. As a staunch supporter and advocate for arbitration, I cannot not allow wrongful bashing by members of Congress, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the media and others to continue without stating categorically how wrong they are…
Now that the football season is behind us, I bid it farewell by embracing a football term — the “personal protector “– and applying it to arbitration. In football parlance, the personal protector is a player assigned to protect the punter (kicker) from harm. Watching the Super Bowl the other day, I came to the…
The A-Rod Saga: Batting 1.000 So Far (See For Yourself) My previous blog post here on the A-Rod saga (A-Rod’s Chances on Appeal: Rock, Meet Hill) contained some predictions. Several have already have come to pass; so far I am batting 1.000. A-Rod would Bring Legal Action to Vacate Award First, I predicted…
In short there are three takeaways here: 1) labor arbitration is a different animal, but the scope of court review of arbitration awards is very limited, just as in business or consumer arbitrations; 2) A-Rod is pushing the proverbial rock up a hill with his announced intention to appeal Arbitrator Horowitz’s decision that he be suspended for 162 games (an entire season); and 3) there is a small window of opportunity that might allow him to play this year.