TODAY IN ADR / May 14, 2008

Federal Court Honors Choice-of-Law Provision and Upholds Class Waiver Under Virginia Law

A federal district court in New Jersey honored a choice-of-law provision in a wireless service contract and thus applied Virginia law in determining that the arbitration agreement was enforceable even though it contained a class waiver barring class-wide proceedings. In rejecting a finding of unconscionability and upholding the class waiver, the Court noted that wireless services are not the sort of "necessity" that gives rise to unconscionability concerns.

In Halprin v. Verizon Wireless Services, LLC, No. 07-4015, 2008 WL 961239 (D.N.J. Apr. 8, 2008), Verizon provided wireless phone services to Halprin under a contract that required all disputes to be resolved through individual arbitration. The contract also contained a Virginia choice-of-law provision...