Arbitration Continues To Be A Hot Topic Before The Supreme Court (Update)

Interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) has been a frequent issue considered by the U.S. Supreme Court this year. On October 29, 2018, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, No. 17-988. In Lamps Plus, the Court considered whether the FAA precludes a state-law interpretation of an arbitration agreement that would authorize class arbitration based solely on general language commonly used in arbitration agreements. The Court's analysis in answering this question will necessarily implicate its prior ruling in a 2010 decision, Stolt-Nielsen, S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp., wherein the Court held that in light of the fundamental differences between class and bilateral (one-on-one) arbitration, class arbitration cannot be required unless there is a specific contractual provision in the agreement that would support the conclusion that the parties agreed to arbitrate as a class. As a result of the decision in Stol-Nielsent,