Arbitration Law

The field of arbitration has been a dynamic subject of litigation in the courts. In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided dozens of cases that involve the interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act. Moreover, as the Court has broadened the use of arbitration as the primary and/or exclusive tribunal for deciding many types of civil law disputes, the lower federal courts have been inundated with cases involving the application and interpretation of the federal statute. In addition, courts in every state have been presented with an avalanche of cases implicating the federal arbitration statute and the way in which it overlaps with or conflicts with state law doctrines. This casebook presents a comprehensive treatment of the legal issues involved in arbitration. The first four chapters address issues that arise under written agreements to arbitrate contained in private contracts. They present the law that has evolved under the Federal Arbitration Act, a statute that governs arbitration in contracts involving interstate commerce. Chapter 5 looks at arbitration in the labor management context that is governed by the Labor Management Relations Act. Chapter 6 addresses international commercial arbitration. Together the book is designed to give students a thorough understanding of arbitration law, and to provide a solid foundation for legal practice, whether in alternative dispute resolution tribunals or in the civil justice system. This latest new edition presents an up to date treatment of this quickly evolving field. It includes all of the recent Supreme Court about arbitration, including Kindred Nursing Centers v. Clark, DirectTV v. Imgurgia, Epic Systems v. Lewis, Lamps Plus v. Varela, Henry Shein v. Archer, and New Prime v. Oliveira. In addition, it contains a detailed section on the subject of Separability, Delegation Clauses and Unconscionability, an area of law that has become a source of considerable litigation in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Rent-A-Center v. Jackson in 2010. It also includes sections on Arbitration Involving Nonparties to Arbitration Agreements, because that too has also become an area of increasing importance in recent years. Additionally, it contains extensive materials on Arbitration and Class Actions, and On-line Arbitration, both in the domestic and international arbitration context. We hope that this new edition of Arbitration Law will provide law students with a thorough understanding of all the doctrinal and analytic tools needed to successfully practice law today. The cases revisit many issues that students encountered in their first year courses in contracts and civil procedure, but from a different perspective. We also hope that by revisiting those subjects from a different perspective, students will gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between substantive law and the procedures available for addressing legal claims.