Tag: Arbitration

The New Jersey Arbitration Act Does Not Require That Arbitration Proceedings Be Conducted in Person

State Farm Guaranty Ins. Co. v. Hereford Ins. Co., 454 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2018).  Following an auto accident, the two insurance company parties to this appeal had a dispute about the reimbursement of personal injury protection (“PIP”) benefits.  ...

Where Purported Forum for Arbitration is Non-Existent, Arbitration Agreement Will Not be Enforced

MacDonald v. Cashcall, Inc., 883 F.3d 220 (3d Cir. 2018).  There have been some outlandish circumstances in decisions involving arbitration, especially in the class action context.  But today’s case, a putative class action in which Judge Shwartz wrote a wise ...

The Last Few Weeks, Part 1

Due to an unusual amount of business travel (alas, only to three cold-weather locations) and a hefty appellate brief, I have not been able to keep up with the courts in recent weeks.  Here is a belated, and far from ...

The Supreme Court Grants Review in Five More Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five more cases.  One of those is a land use matter.  The other four run the gamut from administrative law to criminal law to constitutional law to arbitration. Montclair State ...

To Resolve an Arbitrability Dispute, Cut the Complaint in Two, the Appellate Division Says

Greenbriar Oceanaire Community Ass’n, Inc. v. U.S. Home Corp., 452 N.J. Super. 340 (App. Div. 2017).  [Disclosure:  I represent U.S. Home, though not in this case].  In today’s decision in this appeal, which involved a dispute over which claims asserted ...

Plaintiff is Over the Moon, as the Third Circuit Applies New Jersey’s Arbitration Cases to Defeat Defendant’s Demand for Arbitration

Moon v. Breathless, Inc., 868 F.3d 209 (3d Cir. 2017).  At least since 2014, when the Supreme Court of New Jersey decided Atalese v. U.S. Legal Servs. Grp., L.P., 219 N.J. 430 (2014) (discussed here), New Jersey law has been ...

Literal Reading of Police and Fire Public Interest Arbitration Reform Act on Applicability of Cap on Arbitration Awards Would Yield Absurd Results, so the Appellate Division Rejects That Outcome

In re State of New Jersey and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 91, 450 N.J. Super. 286 (App. Div. 2017).  In her opinion for the Appellate Division today, Judge Reisner entered the competition for the most concise opinion of the ...

The Third Circuit Clarifies the Standard for Determining Whether Parties Have Agreed to Arbitrate

Aliments Krispy Kernels, Inc. v. Nichols Farms, 851 F.3d 283 (3d Cir. 2017).  The bottom line of this opinion by Judge Fuentes was the reversal of a judgment of the District Court vacating an arbitration award that had been issued ...

Terms of Use Not to Disclosed to Consumers, on a Website That They Never Visited, Do Not Require Them to Take Grievances to Arbitration

James v. Global Tellink Corp., 852 F.3d 262 (3d Cir. 2017).  In this putative class action, plaintiffs were inmates at New Jersey correctional facilities.  They signed up with defendants for a service that would allow plaintiffs to telephone loved ones, ...

Failure to Pay Arbitration Fees Breaches Agreement That Requires Arbitration

Roach v. BM Motoring, LLC, 228 N.J. 163 (2017).  Plaintiffs bought used cars from defendants.  In connection with those purchases, plaintiffs signed Dispute Resolution Agreements (“DRA’s”) that required any disputes to be arbitrated “in accordance with the rules” of the ...