Category: Arbitration

Fourth Circuit Holds Arbitration Clause Unenforceable When Contract Also Disavows Federal and State Substantive Law

Mark W. Frilot | The Dispute Resolver | February 8, 2016 While not a construction dispute, the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Hayes v. Delbert Services Corp., 2016 WL 386016, __ F.3d __ (4th Cir. 2/2/16), gives insight to the limits to a court’s willingness to enforce arbitration clauses that also include a waiver of substantive… Continue reading Fourth Circuit Holds Arbitration Clause Unenforceable When Contract Also Disavows Federal and State Substantive Law

Reference to AAA Construction Industry Rules means that Parties Agreed to have Arbitrator Determine Arbitrability

Stan Martin | Commonsense Construction Law LLC | January 28, 2016 A Florida Court of Appeal has concluded that an arbitration clause incorporating the AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules means that the parties intended to submit issues of arbitrability to the arbitrator and not to the courts. The parties had used a standard AIA contract… Continue reading Reference to AAA Construction Industry Rules means that Parties Agreed to have Arbitrator Determine Arbitrability

Arbitrators’ Award of Attorney’s Fees Thrown Out Because the Parties’ Agreement Did Not Provide for It

Andrew G. Wailgum and Sara P. Bryant | Murtha Cullina LLP | January 27, 2016 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently voided an arbitration panel’s award of attorney’s fees because the terms of the parties’ arbitration agreement did not specifically provide that the prevailing party could be awarded fees. Beacon Towers Condo. Trust v. Alex, 473… Continue reading Arbitrators’ Award of Attorney’s Fees Thrown Out Because the Parties’ Agreement Did Not Provide for It

Third Circuit Rules that Courts, not Arbitration Panels, Have Final Word on Class Action Arbitrability

Rebekah Byers Kcehowski, Sharyl A. Reisman and Darren K. Cottriel | Jones Day | January 15, 2016 In Brief The history and proceedings of the Third Circuit’s recent decision in Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC v. Scout Petroleum, LLC, No. 15-1275, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 42 (3d Cir. Jan. 5, 2016), are a precautionary tale suggesting that companies… Continue reading Third Circuit Rules that Courts, not Arbitration Panels, Have Final Word on Class Action Arbitrability

To Be or Not to Be in Arbitration? That is the Question

Tony Byler and Daniel E. Fierstein | Construction Law Signal | January 14, 2016 Arbitration has become a very common and effective way to resolve construction disputes in lieu of traditional litigation, and it is easy to understand why: The parties can select arbitrators with construction expertise who speak their language and are more likely… Continue reading To Be or Not to Be in Arbitration? That is the Question