Class And Group Actions In Arbitration

Several decades ago, a typical arbitration would involve one claimant against one respondent. Over the years, more and more cases involve several claimants against several respondents. Today, one third of all international ICC arbitrations seem to involve multiparty cases, multi-contract cases involving multiple contracts, multiple parties. The evolution has continued and the debate today is whether it would be possible for a class of people in the same situation or a group of citizens having the same interest to start one single arbitration procedure as a group or as a class. This publication examines the complex issues involved in class or group arbitration on a comparative law basis. Is there a place for such proceedings within the framework of the arbitration process? Class action procedures, as developed in the United States court system and more recently in Canada, are almost nonexistent in Europe. The European Commission has advocated collective redress as an important means of access to justice but class actions have found little enthusiasm in the Members States. The book highlights the lessons which have been learned from the experience of cases in the US and in Europe. What does the future hold for class, collective and mass arbitrations? Are they a marginal phenomenon or has their potential yet to be realized? What are possible solutions to the issues that have been encountered? Can we expect to see more of such arbitrations in the future? Written by arbitrators, academics and practitioners, this Dossier will provide the answers to these questions and many more.

This is a leading manual for practitioners and gives an update on the interface between class actions and arbitration in every EU Member State that provides access to a form of collective redress. It enhances the use of arbitration in relation to collective redress mechanisms.

Class action and other group litigation procedures are increasingly being adopted in jurisdictions throughout the world, as more countries deal with the realities of increased globalization and access to information. As a result, attorneys and their clients face the ever-expanding prospect of a class or group action outside their home jurisdictions. World Class Actions: A Guide to Group and Representative Actions around the Globe is a guide for attorneys and their clients on the procedures available for class, group, and representative actions throughout the world. It helps lawyers navigate and develop strategies for litigation and risk management in the course of doing business abroad, or even in doing business locally in a way that impacts interests abroad. Part I of the book provides a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction survey of the class action, group, collective, derivative, and other representative action procedures available across the globe. Each chapter is written from a local perspective, by an attorney familiar with the laws, best practices, legal climate, and culture of the jurisdiction. Part II provides guidance from the perspective of international attorneys practicing in foreign jurisdictions and the art of counseling and representing clients in international litigation. It also covers a variety of topics related to transnational, multi-jurisdictional, and class or collective actions that involve international issues and interests. Each chapter offers practice tips and cultural insights helpful to an attorney or litigant facing a dispute in a particular part of the world. Many of the chapters introduce key books, treatises, articles, or other reference materials to foster further research. Its focus on international class and group litigation law from a practitioner's perspective makes World Class Actions an essential guide for the lawyer or client.

Complete with a state-by-state analysis of the ways in which the class action rules differ from the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, this comprehensive guide provides practitioners with an understanding of the intricacies of a class action lawsuit. Multiple authors contributed to the book, mainly 12 top litigators at the premiere law firm of Fulbright and Jaworski, L.L.P.

Provides an analysis of the issues arising from multiparty-multicontract arbitrations, including those involving States and groups of companies. This work analyses theories on the basis of which courts and arbitral tribunals determine who are parties to the arbitration clause; and whether an arbitration clause may be extended to non-signatories.

Long regarded as a powerful means to seek individual damages against a corporate defendant, class actions have become a staple of the U.S. litigation system. In recent years, however, several highly significant Supreme Court decisions have weakened the commonality claims of defendants, particularly in workplace discrimination actions. In light of this background, the trends and prospects of employment class actions were the theme of the 56th annual proceedings of the prestigious New York University Conference on Labor, held in May 2003. This important volume reprints the papers presented at that conference, as well as some additional contributions. Among the considerable expertise brought to bear on this controversial subject, readers will find insightful analysis of such issues as the following: Effect of class actions on losing companies; Importance of class actions to Title VII enforcement; Obstacles to class litigation; Compliance and internal enforcement challenges for large employers; Opt-in vs. opt-out alternatives for class members; Value and effectiveness of pattern or practice test cases; Legal limits of group identity; Shifting of the burden of proof; Authority of arbitrators to proceed on a class wide basis; and Countering statistical claims of expert witnesses. Because class actions are based on tension – that between commonality and individuation – they tend to accumulate precedent along a spectrum from disconnected disparity to meaningful resolution. In this deeply informed and thought-provoking book, lawyers and academics concerned with both the interests of employers and of employees will proceed with increased awareness as they work on reconciling the practical and theoretical constraints of class litigation.

Class arbitration first developed in the United States in the 1980s as a means of providing large numbers of individuals with the opportunity to assert their claims at the same time and in the same proceeding. Large-scale arbitration has since spread beyond U.S. borders, with collective arbitration being seen in Europe and mass arbitration being used in the international investment regime. Class, Mass, and Collective Arbitration in National and International Law considers all three forms of arbitration as a matter of domestic and international law, providing arbitrators, advocates and scholars with the tools they need to evaluate these sorts of procedural mechanisms. The book covers the best-known decisions in the field - Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. Animal Feeds International Corp. and AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion from the U.S. Supreme Court and Abaclat v. Argentine Republic from the world of investment arbitration - as well as specialized rules promulgated by the American Arbitration Association, JAMS and the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS). The text introduces dozens of previously undiscussed judicial opinions and covers issues ranging from contractual (or treaty) silence and waiver to regulatory concerns and matters of enforcement. The book discusses the entire timeline of class, mass and collective arbitration, ranging from the devices' historical origins through the present and into the future. Lawyers in a wide variety of jurisdictions will benefit from the material contained in this text, which is the first full-length monograph to address large-scale arbitration as a matter of national and international law.

Since the 1960s, the class action lawsuit has been a powerful tool for holding businesses accountable. Yet years of attacks by corporate America and unfavorable rulings by the Supreme Court have left its future uncertain. In this book, Brian T. Fitzpatrick makes the case for the importance of class action litigation from a surprising political perspective: an unabashedly conservative point of view. Conservatives have opposed class actions in recent years, but Fitzpatrick argues that they should see such litigation not as a danger to the economy, but as a form of private enforcement of the law. He starts from the premise that all of us, conservatives and libertarians included, believe that markets need at least some rules to thrive, from laws that enforce contracts to laws that prevent companies from committing fraud. He also reminds us that conservatives consider the private sector to be superior to the government in most areas. And the relatively little-discussed intersection of those two beliefs is where the benefits of class action lawsuits become clear: when corporations commit misdeeds, class action lawsuits enlist the private sector to intervene, resulting in a smaller role for the government, lower taxes, and, ultimately, more effective solutions. Offering a novel argument that will surprise partisans on all sides, The Conservative Case for Class Actions is sure to breathe new life into this long-running debate.

International Commercial Arbitration is an authoritative 4,250 page treatise, in three volumes, providing the most comprehensive commentary and analysis, on all aspects of the international commercial arbitration process that is available. The Third Edition of International Commercial Arbitration has been comprehensively revised, expanded and updated, To include all legislative, judicial and arbitral authorities, and other materials in the field of international arbitration prior to June 2020. It also includes expanded treatment of annulment, recognition of awards, counsel ethics, arbitrator independence and impartiality and applicable law. The revised 4,250 page text contains references to more than 20,000 cases, awards and other authorities and will enhance the treatise’s position as the world’s leading work on international arbitration. The first and second editions of International Commercial Arbitration have been routinely relied on by courts and arbitral tribunals around the world ((including the highest courts of the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada) and international arbitral tribunals (including ICC, SIAC, LCIA, AAA, ICSID, SCC and PCA), e.g.: U.S. Supreme Court – GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS, Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, 590 U.S. - (U.S. S.Ct. 2020); BG Group plc v. Republic of Argentina, 572 U.S. 25 (U.S. S.Ct. 2014); Canadian Supreme Court – Uber v. Heller, 2020 SCC 16 (Canadian S.Ct.); Yugraneft Corp. v. Rexx Mgt Corp., [2010] 1 R.C.S. 649, 661 (Canadian S.Ct.); U.K. Supreme Court – Jivraj v. Hashwani [2011] UKSC 40, ¶78 (U.K. S.Ct.); Dallah Real Estate & Tourism Holding Co. v. Ministry of Religious Affairs, Gov’t of Pakistan [2010] UKSC 46 (U.K. S.Ct.); Swiss Federal Tribunal – Judgment of 25 September 2014, DFT 5A_165/2014 (Swiss Fed. Trib.); Indian Supreme Court – Bharat Aluminium v. Kaiser Aluminium, C.A. No. 7019/2005, ¶¶138-39, 142, 148-49 (Indian S.Ct. 2012); Singapore Court of Appeal – Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd v. Avant Garde Maritime Servs. Ltd, [2019] 2 SLR 131 (Singapore Ct. App.); PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) TBK v. CRW Joint Operation, [2015] SGCA 30 (Singapore Ct. App.); Larsen Oil & Gas Pte Ltd v. Petroprod Ltd, [2011] SGCA 21, ¶19 (Singapore Ct. App.); Australian Federal Court – Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd v. Rinehart, [2017] FCAFC 170 (Australian Fed. Ct.); Hague Court of Appeal – Judgment of 18 February 2020, Case No. 200.197.079/01 (Hague Gerechtshof); Arbitral Tribunals – Lao Holdings NV v. Lao People's Democratic Republic I, Award in ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/12/6, 6 August 2019; Gold Reserve Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Decision regarding the Claimant’s and the Respondent’s Requests for Corrections, ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/09/1, 15 December 2014; Total SA v. The Argentine Republic, Decision on Stay of Enforcement of the Award, ICSID Case No. ARB/04/01, 4 December 2014; Millicom Int'l Operations B.V. v. Republic of Senegal, Decision on Jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal, ICSID Case No. ARB/08/20, 16 July 2010; Lemire v. Ukraine, Dissenting Opinion of Jürgen Voss, ICSID Case No. ARB/06/18, 1 March 2011.