When collective bargaining reaches an impasse, the usual next step is a strike. For some essential public employees, such as firefighters and police officers, there is no right to strike. In such situations, the next step is usually conventional arbitration. But conventional arbitration has been criticized because arbitrators supposedly arrive at awards by “splitting …
Read moreFinal Offer Arbitration – Law & Legal Terms Explained
It’s been said that America is the most litigious society in the world, despite the fact that less than 2% of federal cases go all the way to trial. Many more cases do not reach the courthouse. We are, if anything, a society that settles disputes. We don’t talk that way, and as a group, …
Pre-arbitration is a step in the representment process of challenging a consumer’s chargeback claim. For those of us outside the world of consumer credit and its challenges, many of the words in the first sentence of this article will feel foreign. However, anyone who has been a consumer that challenged a charge on a credit …
By Hon. Henry Pitman (Ret.) Continued from Part II of III… Arbitrability Belton v. GE Capital Retail Bank, 961 F.3d 612 (2d Cir. June 16, 2020), petition for cert. filed, No. 20-481 (Oct. 14, 2020): Plaintiffs had opened accounts with defendant credit card companies; the cardmember agreements contained arbitration clauses. Plaintiffs’ accounts became delinquent, and …
Read moreDetermining Arbitrability in the Second Circuit (Part III of III)
Occasionally, a court will recommend an early neutral evaluation shortly after a case has been filed. Courts will usually recommend this when they believe an evaluation may help the parties accurately see their positions compared to the other party’s and potentially think about a settlement. Sometimes, a court will recommend the case to early …
Read moreEarly Neutral Evaluation: Encouraging Settlement and Understanding
By Hon. Henry Pitman (Ret.) Continued from Part I of III… Binding Effect of an Arbitral Decision Ninety-Five Madison Co. v. Vitra Int’l AG, No. 20-1432, 2020 WL 7086186 (2d Cir. Dec. 4, 2020) (summary order): A Landlord and a commercial tenant entered into a settlement agreement in which the landlord approved the tenant’s making …
Read moreBinding Effect in Arbitration Agreements (Part II of III)
Arbitration Forums is an organization that provides arbitration and subrogation services to the insurance and claims industry. In disputes involving insurance companies that have outstanding claims with another insurance company, the dispute would usually be submitted to the courts to decide which insurance company owes the claim. However, Arbitration Forums provides a forum for these …
By Hon. Henry Pitman (Ret.) Regardless of whether one is a proponent or opponent of mandatory arbitration clauses, they have become ubiquitous. According to a March 2015 study performed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 53% of credit card agreements and 99.9% of all mobile phone agreements contain mandatory arbitration provisions (Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, …
Read moreSecond Circuit Arbitral Award: 2020 in Review (Part I of III)
If you need clarification on how California Settlement Privilege really works, this article is going to answer a lot of your questions. Let’s suppose that you have a longtime friend and client named Alice. You have made a lot of money with Alice over the years, and her business is important. One day, she accuses …
Read moreCalifornia Settlement Privilege: Excluding Evidence of Discussions
Jim and John had been successful design partners for six years. The business had grown from the two of them to twelve engineers. Now Jim wanted to accept an acquisition offer, but John wanted to expand while they could buy new buildings cheaply. If the impasse continued, both opportunities would expire. Jim was bitter and …
