Reinsurance Focus

Class-Waiver Arbitration Clauses:

Vernon v. Qwest Communications International, Inc., Case No. 1:09-cv-01840 (USDC D.D.C. Mar. 8, 2012) (compelling arbitration; class-waiver arbitration provision in electronic agreement that was not “user friendly” was enforceable under Concepcion, as it was not unconscionable under state law)

Smith v. Americredit Financial Services, Inc., Case No. 3:09-cv-01076 (USDC S.D. Cal. March 12, 2012) (denying motion to compel arbitration; class waiver arbitration provision in retail installment contract was procedurally and substantively unconscionable under state law and was thus unenforceable, notwithstanding Concepcion)

Division of Labor Between Courts and Arbitrators:

Grigsby & Associates, Inc. v. M Securities Investment, Case No. 09-11817 (11th Cir. Dec. 20, 2011) (vacating order denying motion to enjoin arbitration; district court incorrectly held that arbitrators should decide whether defendants waived right to arbitrate by pursuing several lawsuits)

Schatz v. Cellco Partnership, Case No. 1:10-cv-05414 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Feb. 3, 2012) (compelling arbitration; validity of arbitration clause limiting relief available to plaintiff was question for arbitration, where it was ambiguous whether a “clear conflict” existed between the arbitration clause and purported rights to relief under state law)

Unite Here Local 25 v. Madison Ownership, LLC, Case No. 1:11-cv-0062 (USDC D.D.C. March 23, 2012) (denying dismissal of injunction action to compel labor arbitration, but ordering discovery as to coverage of arbitration agreement; purported failure of legal basis for injunctive relief was not a jurisdictional issue for the court, but was a question of available remedy for arbitrators to decide)

Waller v. Foulke Management Corp., Case No. 1:10-cv-06342 (USDC D.N.J. Mar. 19, 2012) (denying reconsideration of order compelling arbitration; whether multiple arbitration agreements were consistent and thus valid was question for court)

Seventeenth Street Associates, LLC v. Cole, Case No. 3:11-cv-00478 (USDC S.D. W. Va. Feb. 29, 2012) (compelling arbitration; court determines res judicata precluded relitigation of prior order compelling arbitration)

Right to Enforce Arbitration Agreement:

Allianz Global Risk U.S. Insurance Co. v. General Electric Co., Case No. 10-55451 (9th Cir. Mar. 5, 2012) (affirming order compelling arbitration; Allianz had subrogation rights under state law and thus GE was estopped from refusing to arbitrate with Allianz under the arbitration agreement between GE and Allianz’s insured)

Butto v. Collecto Inc., Case No. 2:10-cv-02906 (USDC E.D.N.Y. Feb. 23, 2012) (denying reconsideration of order denying motion to compel arbitration; non-signatory was not “sufficiently close” to contracting party to enforce arbitration agreement)

Thomas v. Westlake, Case No. D058531 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 23, 2012) (reversing denial of petition to compel arbitration; alleged agency relationship amongst defendants permitted non-signatory defendants to enforce arbitration agreement)

This post written by Michael Wolgin.

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