We reported in December that the Supreme Court had granted Certiorari in four cases involving arbitration. The Court has just set the cases for oral argument during the last two weeks of March. The oral argument calendar released by SCOTUS on January 28 shows that all four cases have been set for oral argument as follows: March 21: Morgan v. Sundance Inc., No….
On the heels of the decision by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Belinda E. Edwards in Leggett v. Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, No. 2019CV328949 (Ga. Super Jan. 25, 2022), finding that the potential arbitrator list preparation process had been compromised, and subsequent calls by PIABA for Congressional and SEC investigations, two Democratic lawmakers have written to…
With SCOTUS already set to review an FAA preemption challenge to California’s PAGA, the parties to a similar pending Certiorari Petition have agreed to hold the case in abeyance pending the outcome of the first case. We have reported many times on Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal.4th 348, 327 P.3d 129 (Calif. 2014), cert. den.,…
With four arbitration-centric cases already slated for review this Term, and one Certiorari Petition awaiting imminent disposition, is SCOTUS about to take up yet another arbitration-related case? Stay tuned. As described in our recent feature article, After a Lull in 2021, a Busy Year Ahead Arbitration-wise for SCOTUS, 2021:48 Sec. Arb. Alert 1 (Dec. 23, 2021), the Supreme Court…
Although Credit Suisse is held liable for negligent supervision, the Arbitrators nonetheless recommend expungement of the claimant broker’s record (who was “unnamed” in the sense that he was not named as a party in the underlying arbitration). The unanimous Award by an All-Public Panel in Marmaduke v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, FINRA ID No. 18-02720…
While the arbitration agreement in a variable annuity was enforceable because the investment was a security, once the annuitant converted the product to a fixed annuity it became an insurance product and the PDAA was not enforceable, a unanimous Kentucky Supreme Court holds. The virtually unlimited reach of Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preemption can be…
We entered 2021 with SCOTUS poised to again rule on delegation after hearing oral argument late in 2020.[1] Later in the year, the Court agreed to hear two more arbitration-centric cases. The result for these three cases? Two oral arguments were held, but there was a “never mind” from the Court after one of them.[2] And the…
FINRA intends to codify its program to expedite administration of cases involving senior or seriously ill parties. As promised, we commissioned a survey on the program’s effectiveness, which reveals that the voluntary program has been marginally effective. In SAA 2021-45 (Dec. 2), we reported that FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS”) was considering a rule change…
In about a month, the Supreme Court has gone from zero arbitration-centric cases set for review to four (five if you double count a consolidated case). Just a month ago, we were reporting in SAA 2021-43 (Nov. 18) that, having just heard argument in this Term’s only arbitration-related case then on the oral argument docket…
FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS”) posted case statistics through the end of October, with the overall arbitration case filing trends continuing from prior months but with a confirmed major change in mediation stats. In brief, the headlines are: 1) overall arbitration filings through October – 2,527 cases – are down 26% (had been -27% in September); 2) cumulative customer claims, which had…