The Country Club of Jackson is  a “Golden Age” gem that is an extremely interesting golf course. It is certainly the one of most naturally beautiful courses on the Southeast.

(Photos by Stephen Oakes)

This will make for an interesting experience for the players and for spectators of the Sanderson Farms Championship. There are several holes that spectators will enjoy because of the shots called for and others that provide excellent areas to see a variety of  shots on different holes at once.

The 16^th hole is a 475 yard par 4 that runs along a cypress break and is the prettiest hole in Mississippi. It is also one of the hardest.   The players are required to keep the ball out of the water on the left and out of the rough and trees on the right.  A recently added fairway bunker on the right side has added to the difficulty of this hole.  If you attend the tournament, you need to head out to number 16.

 

Right next to the 16th tee is the 15^th green and a nice set of bleachers that are very close to the 15^th green. 15 is a drivable short par 4 that is one of the most interesting holes on the golf course.  I misplaced tee shot leaves a very difficult chip. There will be eagles birdies and bogies on 15. 15 and 16 are on the very back of the golf course but are must see holes.

The Bank Plus Pavilion on 12 is almost on top of the 12^th green. For an upgraded ticket, spectators have access to a pavilion that provides exceptional views of the 12^th and 13^th greens.

Fans wanting to see a lot of golf from one spot should try out the area around the 5^th green. That area offers views of the 5^th green the 6^th and 9^th tees as well as quick access to the 8^th green.

Another great spot is the third green area which offers views of the 3^rd green, all of number 4 and quick access to the 5 tee box, the 11^th green and the 14^th green.

The green on number 2 offers views of the 2nd green, 16th green and the third tee.  Additionally, the ropes are very close to the green on 2 and the tee box on 3 offering great access to the players.

The “old school” layout of the CCJ provides excellent views of the golf and a beautiful golf course. With major champions Zach Johnson, Jason Dufner, Lucas Glover and Jimmy Walker, we have a large number of major champions in the field.   The course is in perfect condition and the greens are as good as bermuda gets.  Go check it out.

Arbitration is supposed to provide a cheap and inexpensive forum to resolve disputes.

The reality is that it can be slow and expensive like traditional litigation.

Why is arbitration not as fast as it is supposed to be?

First, there are often disputes over whether a claim  is arbitrable.   This is  true when an individual sues a corporation.  Typically, the corporation wants to arbitrate and the individual wants to litigate in state court.  This results in litigation over arbitrability in the trial court or can lead to a federal court action to compel arbitration.

State court trial judges are sometimes reluctant to compel arbitration, and if a party moves to compel arbitration and loses, they will be faced with a slow and expensive appellate process.  I have had cases where the trial judge denied a motion to compel arbitration, the intermediate trial  court compelled arbitration and on a writ of certiorari the Mississippi Supreme Court found the claims not to be arbitrable.  This process took more than two years and was very expensive.

A recent federal court case illustrates how long even a federal action to compel arbitration can last.  In  Douglas v. Regions Bank, 757 F. 3d 460(5th Cir. 2014)  a bank customer sued the bank.  In response,  the Bank filed  motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiff’s claims.  The trial court ruled that the claims were not arbitrable and three judge panel of the fifth Circuit ruled that the claims were not arbitrable.

The arbitration agreement at issue contained a “delegation clause” in the arbitration agreement that required that the issue of arbitrability be decided by an arbitrator.   The Fifth Circuit ruled that the delegation clause did not apply where the Bank’s contention that her claims fell within the scope of the arbitration agreement was wholly groundless.  Undeterred, the Bank has asked for en banc consideration by the full Fifth Circuit.  The initial case was filed in 2012, so arbitrability has now been litigated for over two  years.

Another issue is delay in the actual process of selecting arbitrators and setting hearing dates.  Clever lawyers can gum up the arbitrator selection process which delays the start of the process.  I have also had lawyers raise  innumerable  “conflicts” that push the hearing date well out into the future.  Arbitrators  can be  reluctant to push on these kinds of issues(they might not get picked again if they step on toes) and don’t have the leverage of judges in pushing matters to resolution.

How can you speed arbitration up?

To speed things along, use abritration provisions that only require 1 arbitrator(and add in the AAA optional appellate rules in case you get a crazy result).  Additionally, set a time deadline to have a hearing and/or use expedited procedures.  Finally, consider using a delegation clause.  This might help, but it can lead to satellite litigation like in the Douglas case cited above.

Update your arbitration agreements

It is important for businesses to have updated arbitration agreements in place to make sure they are drafted in a fashion that leads to the fastest resolution possible, while adding the safety net of the new appellate rules that are now available.