Tennessee Business Litigation Blog | Burr & Forman LLP

SCOTUS: Waiver of Arbitration Does Not Require Prejudice

Thomas K. Potter, III — Tue, 31 May 2022 09:00:01 -0400

A unanimous Supreme Court held May 23 that a party’s waiver of its arbitration right does not require showing prejudice to an opposing party, because the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) prohibits arbitration-specific rules.

Franchisor Sundance litigated employee Morgan’s collective wage and hour claim for eight months before moving to compel arbitration. The courts below applied the majority rule and rejected Morgan’s waiver argument because she showed inadequate prejudice from Sundance’s delay.

The Supreme Court reversed and remanded. The Court assumed ...

SCOTUS: No Look-Through Jurisdiction for Arbitration Confirmation or Vacatur

Thomas K. Potter, III — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 09:00:02 -0400

The U.S. Supreme Court held March 31, 2022, that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) does not allow federal courts to “look through” to the dispute underlying an arbitration to establish jurisdiction to confirm or vacate an arbitration award.

The 8:1 decision by Justice Kagan distinguished the language of FAA Sections 9 (confirmation) and 10 (vacatur).

While the FAA authorizes various petitions for relief, it does not provide a basis for jurisdiction of itself. Thus, a petitioner must establish an independent basis for federal court jurisdiction, whether ...

No CARES Act Private Action in Putative Class Action Over PPP Gating

Thomas K. Potter, III — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 09:00:03 -0400

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland held there is no implied private cause of action under the CARES Act, denying a preliminary injunction (styled a "stay pending appeal") in a putative class action aimed at stopping Bank of America's gating policies on PPP loans. Profile, Inc. v. Bank of America Corp., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67311 (D. Md. April 17, 2017).

Similar putative class actions have been in the Central District of California and in the Southern District of Texas. The California actions also assert state-law unfair trade practices or unfair competition ...

Welcome to Burr & Forman's Tennessee Business Litigation Blog

Mon, 01 Dec 2014 09:00:04 -0500

"Burr & Forman's Nashville office is committed to serving clients based in or doing business in Tennessee. The Nashville office is home to 20 highly skilled attorneys (with plans to expand), each focused on meeting the diverse needs of our business clients. Firm-wide we have 42 attorneys licensed to practice in Tennessee. We created this blog for Tennessee business owners and non-Tennessee companies doing business in the state. We will report on legal developments affecting businesses in Tennessee at the state and federal levels. We will also discuss developments in other states ...