Mark J. Levin

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Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether an appeal of the denial of a motion to compel arbitration automatically stays proceedings in the lower court pending the outcome of the appeal, or whether the lower court has discretion to grant or deny a stay.  The decision will resolve a split between the Third, Fourth, Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C.… Continue Reading

Earlier this week, we wrote about Verizon’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit from a district court ruling that the bellwether provision in its arbitration clause was unconscionable.  Both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the California Employment Law Council have filed amicus curiae briefs in support of Verizon’s position that bellwether procedures, which for decades have been used to help resolve complex court litigations, are equally beneficial in mass arbitration situations and not unconscionable.… Continue Reading

An appeal pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is poised to decide whether an arbitration agreement that requires mass arbitration disputes to be resolved by multiple rounds of bellwether arbitrations lawfully facilitates a quicker and more efficient resolution of the disputes than would be achieved by pursuing thousands of individual arbitrations—as appellant Verizon Wireless, Inc.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced final regulations, effective July 1, 2023, designed to expand and improve the major student loan discharge programs authorized by the Higher Education Act.  Among other things, the final regulations prohibit institutions that participate in the Federal Direct Loan program from requiring borrowers to sign mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class-action waivers that would be applicable to disputes about Direct Loans. … Continue Reading

A recent Law360 article notes that “a growing number of state court rulings” have invalidated arbitration agreements in online contracts.  As an example of this “trending pushback” by state courts, the article discusses Chilutti v. Uber Technologies, Inc., in which a divided panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court refused to enforce an arbitration agreement contained in Uber’s online terms and conditions. … Continue Reading

In a recent press release, the Pennsylvania Attorney General announced that settlements have been reached with Delaware and Florida lenders who made allegedly usurious loans to Pennsylvania residents.  In apparent support of the settlement, the press release cites the Third Circuit’s decision in TitleMax of Delaware, Inc. v. Weissman, in which an out-of-state lender unsuccessfully sought to enjoin the Pennsylvania Department of Banking from investigating loans made to Pennsylvania residents. … Continue Reading

We recently wrote about a Law 360 report indicating that the CFPB appears unlikely, at least in the near future, to undertake new rulemaking that would regulate the use of consumer arbitration agreements.  The report was based on comments made by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra at a virtual meeting organized by Public Justice. … Continue Reading

According to a report appearing in today’s Law360, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra has indicated that the agency appears unlikely, at least in the near future, to undertake new rulemaking that would regulate the use of consumer arbitration agreements.  The CFPB’s previous rule—which would have forbidden companies from including class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements—was overridden by Congress in 2017 under the Congressional Review Act. … Continue Reading

Recently, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held in Zirpoli v. Midland Funding, LLC that an arbitrator, not the district court, must decide whether class action claims brought against Midland Funding LLC are subject to arbitration.  The question in Zirpoli was whether a challenge to the legality of an assignment of a loan that is subject to an arbitration agreement challenges the formation of the arbitration agreement itself. … Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced proposed regulations designed to expand and improve the major student loan discharge programs authorized by the Higher Education Act.  Among other things, the proposed regulations would prohibit institutions that participate in the Federal Direct Loan program from requiring borrowers to sign mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class-action waivers. … Continue Reading