Doyle v. UBS Fin. Servs., Inc., et al.
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed
The Second Circuit held that UBS Financial Services, Inc. and adviser Jay S. Blair forfeited their contractual right to compel arbitration of the Tower Foundation trustees’ fiduciary-breach claims. Relying on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Morgan v. Sundance, the panel ruled that the defendants’ earlier motion to dismiss the lawsuit—seeking adjudication in federal court—was conduct inconsistent with arbitration and therefore constituted waiver, so the district court’s denial of the motion to compel arbitration was affirmed.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Proper post-Morgan v. Sundance standard for finding waiver of a contractual right to arbitrate under the Federal Arbitration Act.
Circuit Positions
Apply a simple conduct-based test: did the party act inconsistently with the right to arbitrate (no prejudice inquiry).
Retain the pre-Morgan waiver factors but delete the prejudice element.
Analyze waiver strictly under ordinary contract-law principles as directed by Morgan.
Conflict Summary
Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Morgan v. Sundance eliminated the prejudice requirement, circuits have adopted different replacement tests. Some circuits ask only whether the party acted inconsistently with the right to arbitrate, others retain their pre-Morgan multi-factor tests minus the prejudice element, and a third group frames the inquiry purely as a matter of contract-law principles.