In an October 22 story by The Hollywood Reporter (THR), principal Ron Nessim and his article, “Mandatory Arbitration Provisions Involving Talent and Studios and Proposed Areas for Improvement,” are credited as the source behind a Ninth Circuit ruling that may significantly impact future entertainment and other arbitration disputes.
Published by the UCLA Entertainment Law Review in 2015, Nessim’s article highlights several issues regarding entertainment arbitrations, including JAMS being a for-profit provider, talent’s concern over possible repeat player bias and the need for greater disclosures to address these concerns.
After Olympic Eagle lost a JAMS arbitration to Monster they found Nessim’s article and sought to overturn the arbitration award on the basis that the JAMS arbitrator had not disclosed that he was an owner of JAMS and that JAMS had handled 97 prior matters involving Monster. The Ninth Circuit ultimately concluded that Olympic had a right to know that the arbitrator in its case had an equity interest in JAMS given that JAMS had non-trivial prior business with Monster.
Click here to read the full THR article.
