If you’ve ever seen the popular film Goodfellas, you might have heard of the infamous Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It’s usually referred to by its acronym, “RICO,” and was designed to punish a laundry list of criminal conduct such as “gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in
Arbitration
Motion to Compel Arbitration Denied? District Court Proceedings Automatically Stayed Pending Appeal
Although many construction contracts contain arbitration provisions, it is not always clear whether a particular dispute is subject to arbitration and, in some cases, a party may seek to litigate a dispute rather than demand arbitration. In those cases, a defendant may move to compel the dispute to arbitration and seek a stay of further…
How Final Is a Final Award? Turns Out, It Is Difficult to “Escapes!” a Final Arbitration Award in a Construction Conflict
How final is a final arbitration award? In Escapes! To the Shores Condominium Association, Inc., et al. v. Hoar Construction, LLC, and Architectural Surfaces, Inc., the plaintiff condo association argued that an arbitration award that didn’t resolve all claims against all parties in the trial court was not final enough to be appealed. The…
It’s a Family Affair: SCOTX Compels Non-Signatory Minor Children to Arbitrate Their Construction Defect Claims with Signatory Parents
A novel question arose over the past few years in residential construction law as to whether minors were subject to the contractual provisions in their parents’ purchase or construction contract. The contract typically has a dispute resolution clause mandating arbitration of all claims. However, asserting that the minors are not bound to a contract they…
United States Supreme Court Closes the Door to U.S. Discovery in International Commercial Arbitration
What did the Court decide?
The United States Supreme Court resolved a split among the federal appeals courts on the question of whether private international arbitration tribunals can be considered to be either “foreign” or “international” tribunals for purposes of a federal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which permits discovery from persons located in the…
Read Your Contract: It May Cost You Your Arbitration Award
Imagine receiving an arbitration award in favor of your client. You move to confirm the award, and the award is vacated because the parties failed to mediate prior to arbitration. That is exactly what happened in Burke v. Roberson.
In December 2020, the First Court of Appeals in Houston affirmed the vacatur of an…
Lawyer’s Advocacy in Arbitrations: No. 10 of the Top 10 Horrible, Terrible, No Good Mistakes Lawyers Make: Not Looking for Ways to Make Your Arbitrator Happy at the End of a Hearing
David K. Taylor, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Nashville, TN
dtaylor@bradley.com
615-252-2396
There’s a great argument that lawyer advocacy in an arbitration is more essential than at a trial in court. This is the last post of the 10 most horrible, terrible, no good, “bang your head against the door” mistakes that I have seen lawyers…
Enforcing Electronic Contracts in Texas When the Other Party Denies Signing
As an ever-increasing amount of contract negotiation and execution is done online, new legal issues have arisen from such transactions. Consider the following scenario:
You are a general/prime contractor. You have a subcontractor’s electronic signature on an arbitration agreement. When a dispute arises with the subcontractor, you raise the arbitration agreement and attempt to submit…
Lawyer’s Advocacy in Arbitrations: No. 9 of the Top 10 Horrible, Terrible, No Good Mistakes Lawyers Make: Be Creative with Proof and Issues
David K. Taylor, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Nashville, TN
dtaylor@bradley.com
615-252-2396
There’s a great argument that lawyer advocacy in an arbitration is more essential than at a trial in court. This post is the ninth of the top 10 most horrible, terrible, no good, “bang your head against the door” mistakes that I have seen…
Important Changes to International Arbitration Procedures
To all our friends with international projects, partners, or contracts, please take note of some significant changes to one of the potential sets of procedures and rules that may govern or apply to your international dispute. The International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) recently amended its Dispute Resolution Procedures (including its Arbitration and Mediation Rules),…