HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS!
In another case, a separate panel of the Fifth Circuit again issued a 2-to-1 ruling on the law. The panel decision is In re Willis (Tower Loan of Mississippi, L.L.C. v. Willis), 944 F.3d 577 (5th Cir. 2019).
The two judges relied on an outlier dissent in an appeal from outside of the Fifth Circuit, and applied the law of commercial transactions to a consumer transaction. They held that competing arbitration provisions were both valid and enforceable, one in a consumer loan and the other in an insurance policy. Had consumer law been applied to this consumer transaction rather than commercial law, the court would have had to decide whether there was a meeting of the minds, as the lower court did applying governing State law principles. By applying the law applicable to commercial transactions, the majority enforced both arbitration provisions.
The two-to-one decisions that are regularly issued by the current Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals are embarrassing.
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