Book Description

The Law and Practice of Arbitration is a comprehensive treatise about the development and practice of arbitration law in the United States. It addresses in detail the recourse to arbitration in domestic matters -- employment, labor, consumer transactions, and business -- and its use in the resolution of international commercial claims. It covers all of the major subject areas in the field and provides practical advice as well as an easy-to-read, clear discussion of the relevant case law. It represents a masterful synthesis of the entire body of arbitration law. It discusses basic concepts and doctrines, the FAA, freedom of contract in arbitration, arbitrability, the enforcement of awards, the use of arbitration in consumer and employment matters, institutional arbitration, and the drafting of arbitration agreements. It speaks of the federalization of the law and growing judicial objections to the use of adhesionary arbitration agreements in the consumer context, The volume represents the author's continuing in-depth reflection on the practical and systemic consequences of United States Supreme Court's decisional law on arbitration -- a process that is instrumental to the operation of the United States legal system as well as international business. The work continues its tradition of being the best statement on U.S. arbitration law and practice. The Law and Practice of Arbitration is a handy reference for all who have an interest in arbitration law and practice. The new Fifth Edition of Carbonneau’s treatise is built upon a comprehensive update of the federal circuit and U.S. Supreme Court cases on arbitration. The Introduction has been rewritten to take into account AT & T Mobility v. Concepcion and the American Express Merchants’ Litigation in the development of U.S. arbitration law. These decisions represent landmark USSC pronouncements on adhesive arbitration. The Introduction also contains a new section on the foundational legitimacy of arbitration in the U.S. legal system. The two landmark decisions are also incorporated into the text of Chapter 8 on the topic of adhesive arbitration. Chapter 9 on the award enforcement assesses the standing of Stolt-Nielsen in light of the Court’s recent decision in Sutter, asking whether this re-evaluation might be a de facto reversal of the earlier and highly unusual opinion. The assessment takes into account Justice Alito’s concurring opinion in Sutter. Chapter 10 on International Commercial Arbitration has undergone substantial rewriting and makes its various points more lucidly and effectively. This is also true of chapters 2, 3, and 5. Many footnotes have been perfected in form and content. The per curiam opinions---KPMG LLP v. Cocchi, Marmet Health Care v. Brown, and Nitro-Lift v. Howard---are all integrated into the text and fully assessed. The USSC’s decision in CompuCredit v. Greenwood is evaluated for its significance on the issue of Congressional intent to preclude arbitration. There are updates on how the courts define arbitration, the waiver of the right to arbitrate (in particular, the Ninth Circuit opinion in Richards v. Ernst & Young), the enforcement of arbitration agreement, with emphasis upon the curious Third Circuit decision on the matter in Guidotti, the latest adherents to the ill-conceived RUAA, the Ninth Circuit’s favorable response to AT&T Mobilty in Mortensen and Murphy, and an assessment of recent developments on the judicial imposition of penalties for frivolous vacatur actions. The treatise continues to be a highly contemporary and complete statement on the law of arbitration.