5-Star General Store v. American Express Co., Case No. 25-1023 (1st Cir. 2026).
A party's repeated refusal to pay arbitration filing fees despite an arbitral administrator's warnings that cases would be administratively closed constitutes litigation-related activity that a district court has authority to adjudicate, and such nonpayment, when inconsistent with an intent to arbitrate, effects a waiver and default under 9 U.S.C. § 3 that forecloses a stay and order compelling arbitration.
Air-Con, Inc. v. Daikin Applied Latin America, LLC, Case No. 24-1863 (1st Cir. 2026).
A claim voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 precludes appellate finality under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 where the claim could be revived in the same district court, regardless of whether the dismissed claim belongs to the appellant or the appellee.
Village of Schaumburg v. Permasteelisa North America Corp., Case No. 24-1168. (7th Cir. 2026).
A party that files suit and delays months before requesting arbitration waives its right to compel arbitration, and a contractual anti-waiver clause does not limit a federal court's discretion to find waiver based on litigation conduct because federal procedural law, not state contract law, governs the effect of in-court behavior.
Merchants Bank of Indiana v. Craik, Case No. 25-1798 & 25-1799 (7th Cir. 2026).
Whether Indiana's "One Action" statute (Ind. Code § 32-30-10-10) bars a mortgage lender from foreclosing on a mortgage and simultaneously suing on guaranties securing that mortgage, and whether guarantors may waive the statute's protections, are unsettled and outcome determinative questions of Indiana law are appropriate for certification to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Moore v. Club Exploria, LLC, Case No. 25-2721 (7th Cir. 2026).
Courts may consider a defendant's pre-certification conduct, together with its post-certification conduct, in determining whether the defendant waived its right to compel arbitration against putative or certified class members.
Verthelyi v. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, Case No. 25-4458 (9th Cir. 2026).
A contractual fallback dividend rate that resolves to a fixed rate qualifies as a "benchmark replacement" under the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act because the statutory definition of "benchmark replacement" includes any interest rate or dividend rate used to replace LIBOR without requiring that the replacement be a floating rate.
Can-Am Fuel Distribution, LLC v. Sinclair Oil, LLC, Case No. 25-3141 & 25-7450 (9th Cir. 2026).
So long as the licensing agreements authorize use of the refiner's trademarks in connection with the sale or distribution of motor fuel, a franchise relationship qualifies as a "franchise" under the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2801(1)(A), even when the refiner does not itself supply motor fuel to the distributor or refiner.
Warner v. Hillsborough County Clerk of Courts, Case No. 24-10748 (11th Cir. 2026).
A statute authorizing forfeiture of unclaimed court registry funds through newspaper publication notice is not facially unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause, but its application to a specific claimant violates due process where no notice given was reasonably calculated to reach that claimant given the government's actual knowledge that its chosen means of notice had failed.
