Just a month out from oral argument, Servotronics has notified the Court that it is dismissing its Certiorari Petition. That leaves Badgerow v. Walters, No. 20-1143, which has been set for oral argument on November 2, as the only arbitration-centric case on the Court’s hearing docket. One of the late Gilda Radner’s many characters was Emily Litella, who would give misguided…
Consumer advocate and mandatory arbitration critic Barbara Roper has joined the SEC’s senior staff. What this may mean for FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS”) remains to be seen. SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced on August 25 that veteran consumer advocate Barbara Roper would be joining the Commission’s senior staff. A Press Release states: “The Commission today announced the appointment of Barbara Roper as…
In what we are certain is a reaction to a flurry of multiple individual arbitrations that relate to the same event, the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) has created Supplementary Rules for Multiple Case Filings (“Supplementary Rules”) effective August 1. We have reported several times on cases holding that companies such as Amazon and Postmates have been compelled to…
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that Uber Technologies Inc. drivers are not engaged in interstate commerce under a nationwide standard and must arbitrate their claims. Capriole. v. Uber Technologies Inc., No. 20-16030 (9th Cir. Feb. 2, 2021), involves the issue of whether Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) drivers are engaged in foreign or interstate…
SCOTUS again has eschewed an opportunity to clear up the split over the Federal Arbitration Act’s (“FAA”) section 1 exemption for workers engaged in commerce, this time by refusing to reconsider its prior Certiorari denial. As reported in SAA 2021-24 (Jun. 24), the Supreme Court on June 21 denied Amazon’s January 29 Petition for Certiorari in Waithaka v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 19-1848 (1st Cir. Jul….
The SEC has approved an omnibus rule filing strengthening investor protection from at-risk firms and brokers. Addressing unpaid Awards is a major focus. Readers may recall that we reported in SAA 2019-18 (May 8) that FINRA had issued a Regulatory Notice seeking comments on rule changes aimed at better protecting investors from firms with significant…
FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS”) posted case statistics through June, with the overall case filing trends essentially unchanged from prior months. In brief, the headlines are: 1) overall arbitration filings through June – 1,533 cases – are down 18%, about the same as in May; 2) customer claims are now unchanged from 2020; 3) industry disputes are almost halved, down 40%; and 4)…
The Stanford Ponzi scheme was discovered in early 2009. Arbitration cases arising out of it are still with us, however. We covered in the “Articles of Interest” section in SAA 2021-26 (Jul. 15) a July 12 Financial Advisor IQ story, “FINRA Arb Panel Orders Pershing to Pay $650K Over Ponzi Scheme,” reporting that: “A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority…
As more and more financial services firms announce their plans for returning staff to the workplace (see our coverage in SAA 2021-24 (Jun. 24)), we thought we would check in with the major ADR institutions to inquire about their “back-to-the-office” intentions. Hard to believe, but it’s been over two months since leaders from the American Arbitration…
By George H. Friedman* Chairman of the Board, Arbitration Resolution Services Years ago I penned a blog post on Independence Day and arbitration, and updated it a few years ago. It still rings true. So, without further ado, here’s my July 4th blog post, again updated. Our Founders and Arbitration As we approach Independence Day,…