Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: “Accidental Arbitration” -- A New Theory that Would Rein in Consumer Arbitration Clauses and the Scope of the FAA
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Discussion of Industry and Consumer Perspectives on Mass Arbitration
California Employment News: The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment
Podcast: California Employment News - The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment
#WorkforceWednesday: NLRB Focuses on Severance Agreements, Supreme Court Opens Overtime to HCEs, Ninth Circuit Rejects CA's Mandatory Arbitration Ban - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS Rules on PAGA, Fifth Circuit Rules on COVID-19 Under WARN, Illinois Expands Bereavement Leave - Employment Law This Week®
California Employment News: US Supreme Court “Viking River” Decision Brings PAGA Relief for CA Employers
#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC COVID-19 Charges Surge, NYC’s Pay Transparency Law, SCOTUS Considers PAGA - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: New Law on Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Claims, Cyber War Ramps Up, Salaried Nonexempt Status - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now VI-114-Banning Arbitration of Sexual Harassment/Assault Claims
Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
DE Under 3: OFCCP Contractor Portal & Request for Comments for Functional Affirmative Action Programs (FAAPs)
Employment Law This Week®: FAA Arguably Preempts California Law, New CA Employment Laws for 2020, CA Consumer Privacy Act Amended
On behalf of the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), Ballard Spahr has submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Coinbase, Inc., et al. v. Kramer, et al., No....more
California Senate Bill No. 940, which became effective January 1, 2025, places significant restrictions on arbitration provisions affecting California consumers. Under the law, consumers may void contractual provisions that...more
On June 13, 2025, a federal court in the Northern District of California held that a putative Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) class action lawsuit belonged in arbitration, thanks to the defendant company’s arbitration...more
In our previous article, “Pay Up or Lawsuit Up: The 30-Day Countdown That’s Fueling Arbitration Disputes,” we explored the legal and practical challenges posed by California’s 30-day arbitration fee payment rule, codified in...more
On May 5, 2025, Live Nation filed a petition for writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address two issues: (1) clarify whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) protects arbitration agreements with procedures...more
Online businesses are increasingly facing a wave of arbitration demands under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) and similar laws. Enterprising law firms have been at the forefront of this trend, filing claims on...more
As we have reported time and again, California courts have applied extra scrutiny to employee arbitration agreements in recent years, and have not hesitated to deny arbitration where there is a reasonable basis for doing so. ...more
Bilateral arbitration is under increasing attack. While businesses evaluate whether and how to update their arbitration clauses in light of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's October decision in Heckman v. Live...more
What happens in California, stays in California. Our Class Action Team examines a new California law that keeps California consumers’ arbitration proceedings in California....more
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are continuing to aggressively pursue mass arbitrations in privacy litigation. The latest challenge came when Judge Beth Labson Freeman in the Northern District of California ruled last month that...more
On February 3, 2025, the California First District Court of Appeal held that a party to an arbitration agreement cannot rely on a choice-of-law provision to wire around the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault...more
The California Court of Appeal dealt another blow to arbitration, just months after we reported the last such decision here. This time, the Court ruled that the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and...more
California is famously inhospitable to arbitration. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down California laws disfavoring arbitration on no fewer than six occasions between 1987 and 2022....more
Nearly a century ago, and recognizing the courts’ historic hostility toward arbitration agreements, Congress, followed shortly by the California Legislature, adopted laws intended to “favor” arbitration. In recent decades,...more
Consent is generally a precondition to an enforceable contract. Some website operators have attempted to enforce arbitration clauses set forth in the terms and conditions listed on their websites just because a consumer...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court reaffirmed that arbitration agreements are on equal footing with other types of contracts. Therefore, a court should apply the same principles that apply to other contracts...more
In 2019, California enacted Senate (SB) Bill 707, a law codified as California Code of Civil Procedure sections 1281.98 and 1281.99, that automatically deems an employer’s failure to pay fees required for the commencement or...more
The Empire Struck Back last week when the California Court of Appeal held that the state’s latest back-door attempt to outlaw employment arbitration by any means necessary is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). ...more
Johnson v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, 93 F.4th 459 (9th Cir. 2024) - The Ninth Circuit vacated a district court’s dismissal of a former employee’s “non-individual” Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims in the wake of...more
Hohenshelt v. Superior Court, 318 Cal. Rptr. 3d 475 (Cal. Ct. App. 2024) - For the seventh time since they became effective in 2020, the California Court of Appeal has published an opinion holding that Cal. Code Civ. Proc....more
ArentFox Schiff's annual review of significant developments and trends that shaped class action litigation in 2023 has major implications for companies across the country. From labor and employment disputes to landmark...more
CDF Wage and Hour Task Force – Monthly Blog - Enforceable arbitration agreements continue to provide California employers who are faced with wage and hour claims with significant benefits....more
A federal district court has entered a permanent injunction barring the State of California from enforcing Assembly Bill (AB) 51, California’s law that purports to preclude employers from requiring arbitration agreements as a...more
In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On the seventh day of the holidays, my labor and employment...more
On October 10, 2023, California Governor Newsom signed into law S.B. 365, a bill that amends California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1294. The new law provides that when a party appeals an order denying a motion to compel...more