Photo of Daniel H. Bryan

Daniel H. Bryan

Subscribe to Daniel H. Bryan's Posts

Daniel is a litigator who has represented clients in complex business litigation, class-action defense, intellectual property disputes, and data privacy matters, including crisis management and breach response. He has extensive experience across various industries in Ohio and New York courts, in private arbitrations, and in business negotiations outside of the courtroom.

Sixth Circuit Affirms: AAA Rules Require Disputes Over Arbitrability Be Decided in Arbitration

Parties that have agreed to arbitrate certain disputes often disagree about whether a particular claim falls within their agreement to arbitrate, and also about who should make that threshold determination: a court or an arbitrator. The well-established rule is that a court should decide such gateway questions of whether a claim falls within an agreement to arbitrate, absent “clear and unmistakable evidence” that the parties agreed that an arbitrator should do so. E.g., Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, 602 U.S. 143, 149 (2024). Given that demanding standard, one could be forgiven for assuming that such questions would typically be resolved in court. But that is frequently not the case, as illustrated by the Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in New Heights Farm I, LLC v. Great Am. Ins. Co., No. 24-1087, — F.4th —- (6th Cir. Oct. 15, 2024).Continue Reading Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse

A recent Sixth Circuit opinion reiterated that, for purposes of evaluating diversity jurisdiction, the citizenship of a limited liability company is determined by the citizenship of its members. E.g., Akno 1010 Mkt. Street St. Louis Missouri LLC v. Pourtaghi, 43 F.4th 624, 626 (6th Cir. 2022). An LLC’s state of organization and principal place of business are irrelevant to that analysis because 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c) refers specifically to “corporation[s],” while LLCs, like partnerships, are treated as unincorporated associations. Id.; Delay v. Rosenthal Collins Grp., LLC, 585 F.3d 1003, 1005 (6th Cir. 2009) (“The general rule is that all unincorporated entities — of which a limited liability company is one — have the citizenship of each partner or member.”). But a different jurisdictional test applies when a plaintiff’s complaint falls within the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
Continue Reading LLCs Are Treated Like Corporations When Determining Jurisdiction Under CAFA

Welcome to Taft’s Class Action & Consumer Insights blog. Here, we will discuss developments in class actions and consumer statutes that are frequently the subject of class actions, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and various state-law consumer-protection statutes. We hope you enjoy.
Continue Reading Introducing Taft Class Action & Consumer Insights