Interaction of Federal and State Law - Part 1, Chapter 3 - AAA Yearbook on Arbitration and the Law - 23rd Edition
About the Editors:
Stephen K. Huber is Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston Law Center, and has served as a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Rice University (Political Science), Pepperdine Law School (Dispute Resolution Program), and the University of East Africa (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). He has degrees in law from the University of Chicago and Yale University, and a B.A. from Earlham College.
Professor Huber's teaching and scholarly interest have centered on business and commerce (Contracts), and the regulation thereof (Administrative Law, Regulation of Financial Intermediaries). Over the last decade, his writings have focused on private binding dispute resolution proceedings (Arbitration). Teaching materials include: Stephen K. Huber & Maureen A. Weston, Arbitration: Cases and Materials (3d ed. LexisNexis 2011); Wendy Trachte-Huber & Stephen K. Huber, Mediation and Negotiation: Reaching Agreement in Law and Business (2d ed. LexisNexis 2007). Mr. Huber is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and the editor of Alternative Resolutions, the quarterly journal of the Dispute Resolution Section. He is the author of numerous publications relating to arbitration.
Ben H. Sheppard, Jr. is a Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the A.A. White Dispute Resolution Center at the University of Houston Law Center. From 1969 through 2005 he practiced at Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. where he was a partner and co-chair of the firm's international dispute resolution practice. His practice focused on litigation and arbitration, both as counsel and as arbitrator. He has served in international and domestic arbitrations as sole arbitrator, tribunal chair, party-appointed arbitrator and on tripartite tribunals selected from institutional rosters.
He was chair of AAA/ICDR task force that promulgated the 2006 amendment to the ICDR International Arbitration Rules that established a pre-arbitral emergency arbitrator procedure. He was the author of the report and recommendation to the ABA House of Delegates in support of the 2004 Revision to the AAA/ABA Code of Ethics for Arbitrators in Commercial Disputes. He chaired one of the two working groups that promulgated the CPR Protocol on Disclosure of Documents and Presentation of Witnesses in Commercial Arbitration. He is a past chair of the Disputes Division of the ABA Section of International Law and for five years served as editor-in-chief of The International Arbitration News. He is co-editor, with Lawrence W. Newman, and a contributing author to Take the Witness: Cross-Examination in International Arbitration (Juris 2010).
He graduated with high honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1968, and was law clerk to the Honorable Homer Thornberry, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1968 to 1969.
Originally from: AAA Yearbook on Arbitration and the Law - 23rd Edition
3.01 Commerce Clause Preemption of State Law by the FAA
Preston v. Ferrer, 128 S. Ct. 978 (2008)
When parties agree to arbitrate all questions arising under a contract, the FAA supersedes state laws granting primary jurisdiction in another forum, whether judicial or administrative.
Ferrer, who appears on television as “Judge Alex” contracted with Preston, an entertainment industry attorney, for personal management services. The parties‟ contract mandated arbitration for “any dispute . . . relating to the [contract‟s] terms . . . in accordance with the [AAA] rules.” Preston invoked the arbitration clause in order to recover fees allegedly owed under the contract.
Ferrer then petitioned the California Labor Commissioner for a determination that Preston had illegally acted as an unlicensed talent agent in violation of California‟s Talent Agencies Act (TAA), thereby invalidating the parties‟ contract. After a hearing, the Labor Commissioner denied Ferrer‟s motion to stay arbitration, on the ground that the Commissioner lacked authority to order such relief. Ferrer then filed suit in state court, seeking to enjoin arbitration. The state court denied Preston‟s motion to compel arbitration and enjoined Preston from proceeding to arbitration “unless and until the Labor Commissioner determines that . . . she is without jurisdiction” over the contract dispute.
Chapter 3
Interaction of Federal and State Law
3.01 Commerce Clause Preemption of State Law by the FAA
3.02 The Role of State Arbitration Law
3.03 Federal Court Jurisdiction and the FAA
3.04 Choice of Law and Choice of Forum