News & Publications

Yesterday, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel revisited its own 2021 order and finally struck down California's anti-mandatory employment arbitration law, Assembly Bill 51 ("AB 51"). In an opinion drafted by the former dissenting judge, Judge Sandra Ikuta, the new majority declared AB 51 was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"). The statute in question, signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2019, was California legislators' third attempt to side-step the FAA. Two prior legislative enactments had [...]

On January 23, the Supreme Court surprisingly decided to dismiss as "improvidently granted" the writ of certiorari it had granted in the case In re Grand Jury, No. 21-1397. This one-line dismissal order came after full briefing by the parties, thirteen substantive amicus briefs from various legal and business organizations, and oral argument. The issue originally presented to the Court in the petition for certiorari was "[w]hether a communication involving both legal and non-legal advice is [...]

In a matter of first impression, a Florida appeals court recently held that a retailer's exculpatory clause does not apply to claims brought under a theory of strict products liability. In Harrell v. BMS Partners, LLC, the plaintiff purchased a motorcycle from a local retailer and alleged that the motorcycle soon began to "wobble, thrash, and violently turn," causing him to lose control and sustain serious bodily injuries in the ensuing crash.1 As a result of his injuries, [...]