In a take-it-or-leave-it home buyer’s contract, the defendant-builder included an arbitration clause with unconscionable provisions, most notably giving the builder the exclusive right to determine which parties would be included in the arbitration. We decline to strike the offending provisions; ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

A month after plaintiff went to work for defendant, defendant sent her an email with links to a cover letter, frequently asked questions and an agreement to arbitrate any disputes arising from plaintiff’s employment. Under the terms of the email ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

Although the limitations period of the arbitration clause in the parties’ contract is one-sided and oppressive, this unconscionable provision is severable.  As modified, we affirm the circuit court’s grant of defendant’s motion to dismiss and compel arbitration.  When plaintiffs bought ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

For years, the question of whether child custody and visitation issues can be submitted to binding arbitration with no oversight by the family court and no right of review by an appellate tribunal has been bouncing around in South Carolina’s courts.   In a Sept. 8 opinion, a unanimous ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Custody

By James P. McLoughlin Jr. Federal law authorizes federal courts to provide discovery assistance to a “foreign or international tribunal” and litigants with an interest in those proceedings. The 2nd Circuit’s July 2020 decision holding that “foreign or international tribunal” ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

By Jared L. Hubbard and Malgorzata Mrózek In today’s globalized economy, local companies can have a global reach, entering into mergers, acquisitions, manufacturing contracts, licensing agreements, joint ventures, and research and development partnerships with companies and institutions around the world. ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

Federal courts have the power to hear a motion to vacate or modify an arbitration award in any dispute where they would have the power to hear a motion to compel arbitration, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Federal Arbitration Act

As globalization intensifies, the business world gets smaller and smaller every day. An unintended result of local businesses buying and selling in international markets, or international businesses setting up shop in South Carolina, has been that the attorneys and law ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

The defendant-employer’s arbitration agreement expressly does not apply to Title VII claims “unless and until federal law no longer prohibits the Firm from mandating arbitration of such claims.” Despite the agreement’s failure to reference any particular “federal law,” defendant now ...

Tagged with: Arbitration

On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, a federal judge in South Carolina has ruled that employers can require employees to forfeit their rights to collective action claims in favor of ...

Tagged with: Arbitration