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Ninth Circuit, Texas Supreme Court Weigh in On Live Nation Litigations

By Avalon Zoppo and Adolfo Pesquera
November 01, 2024

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit called Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s requirement of new procedures for mass arbitration claims unenforceable and rejected the company's bid to keep a proposed class action lawsuit alleging inflated ticket prices out of court.

The federal appellate panel said Live Nation's arbitration agreement requiring claims to go through provider New Era ADR Inc. is "unconscionable" under California law. New Era's newly created rules for dealing with mass arbitration claims gives the company a leg up over plaintiffs, the Ninth Circuit said. Hekman v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc., 23-55770.

Warren D. Postman of Keller Postman, who argued for the plaintiffs, said many companies have turned to mass arbitration rules similar to the ones created by Live Nation and New Era. The Ninth Circuit decision shows that workaround is likely to fail, Postman said. "For example, one of the problems [that the Ninth Circuit identified] was that they tried to apply these new rules to claims that had already accrued," he said.

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