Teeing up a circuit split, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a party to private arbitration in the United Kingdom can obtain testimony from residents of South Carolina for use in the arbitration. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where an agreement involving defense contractors excluded Title VII claims from arbitration “unless and until federal law no longer prohibits the Firm from mandating arbitration of such claims,” and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP no longer performs the work that prohibited mandatory arbitration, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr.

In an issue of first impression, the court joined the Sixth Circuit in holding a private arbitral panel is a “tribunal” under 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), which allows a district court to order testimony or documents for use in the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

The case was ordered to arbitration because, although the warranty company selected the arbitration service, there was no evidence the rules and processes would be one-sided, unfair or biased against the homeowners. In addition, the homeowners only speculated the arbitration ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

The architecture of the defendant’s loan servicer website meant the plaintiff agreed to arbitration through a “clickwrap” agreement, even though he denied reading or reviewing it. Moreover, the loan servicer could rely upon a promissory note that incorporated the agreement, ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A national staffing agency that was sued by its recruiters for overtime wages litigated various pretrial motions and engaged in discovery. However, it filed its first motion to compel arbitration shortly after the recruiters filed suit, the parties held discussions at ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge John A. Gibney Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A 2016 amendment to the credit card agreement meant the court, and not an arbitrator, would decide whether a former cardholder’s claims are arbitrable. Where the cardholder had not opted out of arbitration, equitable estoppel did not apply and discovery ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge Mark Davis U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An “award” was vacated where the petitioner obtained an arbitration hearing by sending a loan servicer an incomprehensible agreement and used its non-response to initiate arbitration, and where the “award” did not appear to have any grounding in fact or ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge David J. Novak U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiffs who did not prevail against a brokerage in an arbitration conducted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., or FINRA, attacked the award claiming fraud; that the arbitrators were impartial, committed misconduct, exceeded their powers or disregarded the law; ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge Robert G. Doumar U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a woman agreed to arbitrate her claims against an auto dealership, the dispute was ordered to arbitration despite the agreement’s waiver of punitive damages because the waiver was not against public policy. Although she sought an evidentiary hearing regarding ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge John A. Gibney Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District