Alternative Dispute Resolution

Consumer financial agency considers rules barring companies from blocking class actions

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering proposed rules that would bar consumer financial companies from using arbitration clauses to block class actions. CFPB Director Richard Cordray announced the proposals in a press release, saying companies are using arbitration clauses “as a free pass to sidestep the courts and avoid…

Oct 9, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Supreme Court to consider California rule used to strike down arbitration contracts

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Federal Arbitration Act pre-empts a California rule said to invalidate arbitration agreements more often than other types of contracts. The court granted cert on Thursday, report SCOTUSblog and the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty Blog. The rule generally authorizes courts to…

Oct 2, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Client shouldn’t be punished with judgment for no-show lawyer at arbitration, appeals court says

A lawyer’s failure to show up at an arbitration hearing should not result in a judgment against her client, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled. The unpublished Sept. 24 opinion (PDF) said the client, grape seller Giuliano S.R.L., should not have to “bear the brunt of counsel’s apparent confusion…

Sep 28, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Suit seeking to declare autistic boy a public nuisance goes to mediation

The parties in a suit contending an autistic boy is a public nuisance have agreed to participate in court-supervised mediation. Judge Maureen Folan of Santa Clara County, California, on Tuesday urged the boys’ parents and the neighbors who sued to reach an agreement, the San Jose Mercury News reports. “The…

Sep 23, 2015 10:18 AM CDT

Lawyer arrested in alleged assault of golf club employee; club didn’t call cops, offered her $500

A 59-year-old Wisconsin lawyer was arrested Monday in the claimed sexual groping of an employee at a golf club. However, Christopher Hale has not been charged in the Aug. 16 incident at the River Club of Mequon, and his attorney points out that the standard for an arrest is lower…

Sep 3, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

Cited by animal control in dog dispute, couple responds with ‘douchebag’ yard sign

After new neighbors asked a Texas family to keep their four dogs inside until later in the morning, James and Lisa Price say they tried to cooperate with the retired couple. But a $121 ticket from the municipal animal control department after the dogs “were going nuts” about something one…

Aug 14, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

Chicago OKs stop-and-frisk pact with ACLU

Responding to claims by a civil rights group that Chicago police disproportionately target blacks for “stop-and-frisk” searches based on reasonable suspicion, the city has agreed to a settlement that involves third-party monitoring. Announced Friday, the pact incorporates many of the suggestions in a March 2015 report (PDF) by the American…

Aug 7, 2015 1:05 PM CDT

Arbitration website hack is likely the work of Chinese hackers, cyberthreat group says

A page on the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s website was hacked earlier this month, and the culprits are likely Chinese hackers, according to a cyberthreat research team called ThreatConnect. ThreatConnect’s claim of the hack was confirmed by a source close to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Am Law Daily…

Jul 24, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Contesting a traffic ticket? Getting divorced? Some jurisdictions use software to resolve the issues

Some jurisdictions and companies are using software to help resolve personal injury claims, tax disputes, traffic tickets and divorce issues. One company, Modria, is branching out after developing software to help eBay and PayPal solve customer complaints, the Associated Press reports. Modria’s software is now used in several jurisdictions to…

Jul 14, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

What can US and UK lawyers learn from each other about best practices?

American and British lawyers can learn from each other and borrow examples of good practice from both systems to improve litigation and arbitration overall, attorneys said at a panel discussion at the ABA London Sessions on Saturday. In recent years, international arbitration has borrowed good practice from both the U.S.…

Jun 13, 2015 11:07 AM CDT

Warring parties in Robin Williams estate case make progress, with mediator’s help

The widow and three adult children of actor Robin Williams are still at odds over the ownership of some of his personal belongings and the money needed to maintain his widow’s home. But, with the help of a mediator, they have resolved issues concerning a number of other items, so…

Jun 1, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Vintage store operator says threat of social-media shaming is best way to deter shoplifting

Some might think calling police on those who shoplift would be the best way to deter other potential thieves. But the operator of a Philadelphia vintage store says she has found a better way, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Betsy Bassel put up signs at Scout Salvage and Vintage Rescue warning…

May 29, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Earlier clean-costume dispute helped fired Disney workers get rehired in Lion King case

More than a decade ago, a dispute over the condition of skintight underwear performers at Walt Disney World were required to don beneath their costumes led to new contract provisions intended to guarantee the cleanliness of the garments. Those provisions helped three Walt Disney World performers, who were fired last…

Apr 29, 2015 12:45 PM CDT

Reed Smith can’t arbitrate malpractice claim; ex-client, an attorney, didn’t sign required form

Reed Smith has lost its bid to arbitrate a malpractice claim concerning a $20.5 million insurance settlement over a 2012 fire in a former client’s Villanova, Pennsylvania, mansion. There was a mandatory arbitration provision in the law firm’s engagement letter. But then-homeowner Jerald Batoff, who himself is an attorney, said…

Apr 17, 2015 2:30 PM CDT

Fired over blond highlights, former Hooters waitress wins $250K arbitration award

A former Hooters waitress who says she was fired over her blonde highlights after a manager told her “black people don’t have blonde hair,” has won more than $250,000 in an arbitration award. The hair-color policy “was implemented in a discriminatory manner adversely affecting African-American women,” wrote arbitrator Edmund D.…

Apr 3, 2015 11:10 AM CDT