United States - Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook: 2010-2011
Ethan Berghoff is a Partner in Baker & McKenzie’s Chicago office. He represents clients in a broad range of international disputes, including breach of contract claims, fraud, and trade secret violations. He has also appeared before arbitration panels around the world, including Taiwan, France, and the United States.
Kate Ó Súilleabháin is an Associate in Baker & McKenzie’s Chicago office.
James Bailey is an Attorney in the Dispute Resolution Group of Baker & McKenzie’s New York office. His practice includes various aspects of arbitration and litigation, including, in particular, antitrust and white collar crime. Mr. Bailey thanks the contributors of the North American International Litigation and Arbitration Newsletter for the case summaries used in this report.
Donald J. Hayden is a Partner in Baker & McKenzie’s Miami office. His practice includes various aspects of arbitration, commercial litigation, and he deals with the interplay of insolvency issues on a regular basis. He leads Baker & McKenzie’s Dispute Resolution Group in Miami and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Firm’s International Arbitration Group.
Heather Ann Frazier is an Associate in Baker & McKenzie’s Miami office. She practices in the Dispute Resolution Practice Group in Miami and her practice includes arbitration and cross border litigation.
Originally from Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2010-2011
A. LEGISLATION, TRENDS AND TENDENCIES
A.1 Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009
The major arbitration-related legislation, the Arbitration Fairness Act (“AFA”), has expired. In 2009, both houses of the U.S. Congress introduced legislation to bar certain pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate. The version introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.1020) was discharged from the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law in June 2010 but failed to progress thereafter. The U.S. Senate version (S.931) was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the spring of 2009 but failed to engender a Committee report.