December 2020
4 TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS AFTER 11TH CIRCUIT SUPPORTS $4M ARBITRATION AWARD
"Employers should not view alternative dispute resolution provisions as one-size-fits-all." By Don Hayden & Yaniv Adar, Law360 | December 15, 2020 In an employment or consumer context, people generally assume that mandatory arbitration provisions are a unilaterally imposed tool of the corporation with far superior bargaining power to the [...]
November 2019
FRANCHISING WORLD FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS NEW FRANCHISE LAW TAKES EFFECT
By Martin Keane One of the unique aspects of the franchise business model has long been that many franchisees are considered independent contractors. However, a new franchise law set to take effect in California looks to fundamentally change that. California Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) was signed into law last month [...]
August 2017
CONTROLLING COSTS IN ARBITRATION
By Don Hayden While arbitration remains the best mechanism to ensure neutrality and enforceability of cross-border disputes, it has come under fire in the last decade, particularly from some corporate counsel and practitioners given a perceived rise in the cost of arbitrating commercial disputes. Recent surveys of US corporate counsel [...]
SUPREME COURT DECISION STRENGTHENS PROTECTIONS TO PREGNANT EMPLOYEES UNDER FEDERAL PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION ACT.
By Don Hayden On March 25th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a very favorable decision for pregnant employees seeking protection under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 92 Stat. 2076, 42 U.S.C. §2000 et. seq. (“PDA”), that may have far reaching implications in other employment discrimination claims depending upon how one interprets [...]
INTERESTING DEBATE ON SEPARATION OF POWERS DOCTRINE ANTICIPATED IN UPCOMING FLORIDA SUPREME COURT ARGUMENT OF APPROPRIATENESS OF EXPERT STANDARD IMPOSED BY LEGISLATURE
By Don Hayden In July 2013, Section 90.702 of the Florida Evidence Code, which governs the admissibility of expert testimony, was amended to adopt the same standard for admission of expert testimony used by federal courts and the majority of state courts since the US Supreme Court’s decision in Daubert [...]
July 2017
QUE RICO? DISCARDING THE FALLACY THAT FLORIDA RICO AND FEDERAL RICO ARE IDENTICAL
By Etan Mark The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)1 has been called one of “the most misused statutes in the federal corpus of law.”2 The federal criminal RICO statute, passed in 1970, was followed seven years later with its Florida counterpart.3 In 1986, the civil RICO provisions followed, [...]
INADVERTENT DOCUMENT PRODUCTIONS AND THE THREAT OF ATTORNEY DISQUALIFICATION
by Etan Mark Before you embark on the journey of revenge, dig two graves. —Proverb Imagine a scenario in which a particularly obnoxious opposing counsel dumps 10,000 pages of documents on your doorstep three weeks late and the day before a hearing on a motion to compel. Seven hours later, [...]