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In 20/20 Communications, Inc. v.
Crawford, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
recently ruled that the question of whether a dispute can be
arbitrated on a class-wide basis is a threshold issue that is
presumptively for a court, not an arbitrator, to decide. This is
the latest in a series of decisions by the Supreme Court of the
United States and courts of appeals in favor of arbitration
agreements that waive class procedures.
Background
The issue of class arbitrability has been hotly litigated in
recent years. In Epic Systems v. Lewis, the Supreme
Court held that an arbitration agreement that includes a
class-action waiver does not violate the National Labor Relations
Act. In Epic Systems, the Court reversed several rulings
by courts of appeals and paved the way for
