Baseball #Arbitration Helps Uphold AT&T/Time Warner Merger

“Baseball arbitration” is a common name for final-offer arbitration, in which the arbitrator’s choice of rulings is limited to choosing between two dollar amounts, one proposed by each disputing party. In Major League Baseball this procedure is used to resolve salary disputes. More on baseball arbitration can be found here.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently mentioned baseball arbitration as it upheld a lower court ruling approving the merger of AT&T and Time Warner. While the U.S. Dept. of Justice sought to block the merger, CNN explains, irrevocable offers to engage in baseball arbitration were key to defusing this concern for the Court of Appeals.

Sports Illustrated Teaches Arbitration 101: Football (Kneeling During Anthem) Kaepernick Arbitrator Denies Summary Judgment

Kaepernick alleges NFL teams conspired to keep him out of the league because of controversy surrounding his kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. The arbitrator, Penn Law Professor Stephen Burbank, denied the NFL's motion for summary judgment, so Kaepernick's grievance will proceed to hearing. As Sports Illustrated nicely puts it "the forthcoming trial won’t be a 'trial' as that term is commonly understood. There will be no jury, Burbank won’t be robed as a judge and it will all be conducted in private. This is because Kaepernick’s 'trial' is technically an arbitration hearing. The term 'trial' is used mainly out of convenience and because it will resemble a trial in many ways—evidence will be presented and attorneys for each side will question witnesses, who will testify under oath and swear to tell the whole and complete truth."

Summary judgment and other dispositive motions are generally considered less commonly granted in arbitration than litigation.

Arbitration Clauses in Credit Cards Not Antitrust Violation

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the trial court's ruling that the card issuers' "final decision to adopt class-action-barring clauses was something the issuing banks hashed out individually and internally", not collusively.