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David Sorkin Joins FedArb
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Posts By: Stephen Fahlsing
Rethinking Mass Arbitration: Building on MDL’s Proven Blueprint
Mass arbitrations are an important new way for customers to protect their legal rights. Unfortunately, arbitration was designed for individualized disputes—not mass actions involving thousands of nearly identical claims. Yet legacy ADR providers keep trying to force mass arbitrations into an individualized approach that it was never built to support. The result? Massive filing fees,… Read more »
Alabama Federal Judge L. Scott Coogler (Ret.) Joins FedArb
What the latest ruling tells us about the future of Mass Arbitrations
Mediating Executive or Other Key Employee Disputes
A successful mediation requires sensitivity and attention to the needs of each side, but mediating executive or key employee disputes requires some specific considerations and alertness to sensitivities that merit discussion. It’s a Person’s Career After All! First, and foremost, we are dealing with a person’s career –the place where the person has spent a… Read more »
Arbitration Umpire Selection: What Makes Sense
Arbitration is intended to be an expeditious, cost-effective, and streamlined way of resolving disputes. Parties can avoid the delays and expenses that come with resolving a dispute in a courtroom. Court dockets contain hundreds of cases with a single trial judge, who is contending on a daily basis with multiple motions, hearings, orders to show… Read more »
My Journey to the Commercial Division, A World Class Business Court
FedArb Updates Its Mass Arbitration Rules for 2025
Retired Seventh Circuit Judge and ALI Director Diane Wood Joins FedArb
The Whys and Hows of a Mediator’s Proposal
It is a common refrain in mediations, “how about making a mediator’s proposal?” The answer frequently is “not yet” or “that’s not what I want to do.” What are the details behind the concept of a “mediator’s proposal” and when is it appropriate to be offered by the mediator and accepted by the parties? Mediation… Read more »
Efficiency Dept. Should Consolidate Antitrust Enforcement
In 1978, former President Jimmy Carter established the National Commission for the Review of Antitrust Laws and Procedures to recommend ways to expedite litigation, improve remedies, and review certain immunities and exceptions. As the late Arthur Austin, my former antitrust law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, observed, however, the commission was… Read more »
Leading Australian IP Neutral Hon. Dr. Annabelle Bennett (Ret.) AC SC Joins FedArb
‘Samsung’ Highlights the Costs of Arbitrating Mass Claims
The arbitration of mass claims is now available through all of the major ADR providers. The American Arbitration Association (AAA), JAMS, FedArb and CPR have developed special rules to govern the resolution of such claims. A bit of history is warranted. Most consumer contracts require that all disputes be resolved by arbitration. These contracts generally… Read more »
Arbitration Umpire Selection: What Makes Sense
Arbitration, of course, exists by contractual design. For this reason, considerable thought should be given to the terms of any contractual provision that provides for the resolution of disputes by arbitration. The parties are free to design an arbitration provision that forecloses certain issues that could arise once there is a dispute that needs to… Read more »
Intellectual Property Mediator William L. Mentlik Joins FedArb
Confessions of Two Former General Counsels—Has Arbitration Changed or Have We?
Ten years ago if you asked us what we thought of arbitration we probably would not have had too many positive things to say. As former general counsels, we approached commercial disputes that could not be resolved via negotiation or mediation as bound for court. Not that we welcomed the idea of litigation, but we… Read more »
Exploring California’s Reputation: From Wild West to Arbitration Desination
California is well positioned as an arbitration venue, particularly for U.S. to Asia disputes, due to its geography, leading universities, experienced arbitrators, and capable judiciary. 1. California’s reputation and how to improve it. You have mentioned that California was, and in some quarters still is, viewed by Europeans as the wild, wild, West with out-of-control… Read more »
Lessons for International Arbitration From Recent U.S. Climate Change Litigation
The international arbitration community has publicly embraced the expectation that climate-change-related disputes submitted to arbitration will increase exponentially over the coming decade. Arbitral institutions and individual arbitrators, law firm practitioners, and academics have all forecasted that cases related to or impacted by energy production and distribution (both fossil fuel and alternative), supply chain issues and… Read more »
9th Circuit Arbitration Ruling Could Have International Implications
A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision in Patrick v. Running Warehouse LLC offhandedly recognized an unusual and extremely important aspect of California law that the international arbitration community should keep in mind. And while the reminder raises a host of choice of law questions, it ultimately may make California law… Read more »
Leave Chevron Deference Alone to Sustain Agency, Judicial Balance
FedArb experts argue Chevron deference should be preserved Overruling it would empower nonexperts, create uncertainty The US Supreme Court is considering whether to overrule or severely cut back on what is known as Chevron deference. It would be a mistake for the court to do that. Federal agencies such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,… Read more »
Preparing an Effective Mediation Statement
Preparing an effective mediation statement is a critical part of the mediation process. The mediation statement is often the document that gives the mediator his or her first impression of counsel and the client. It is particularly important when the mediator does not hold a joint session but proceeds immediately to caucuses. The purpose of… Read more »
Top Energy Attorney Robert Fleishman Joins FedArb
Testing Your Arbitration Dispute in a Mock Arbitration
A valuable preparation option for any high-stakes arbitration is the mock arbitration, which serves many of the same purposes as mock trials and jury research for court cases. Mock arbitrations serve to: Identify strengths and weaknesses in a party’s case and arguments; Show where and how case presentation and cross examination can be improved; Help… Read more »
Commercial Division Retired Justice Elizabeth Emerson joins FedArb