Supreme Court Decision Alert - December 14, 2015

Today, the Supreme Court issued one decision, described below, of interest to the business community.

Federal Arbitration Act—Preemption of State Law

DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, No. 14-462

In AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), the Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") preempts state-law rules barring enforcement of an arbitration agreement if the agreement does not permit the parties to utilize class procedures in arbitration or in court. Before Concepcion, the law of California included that limitation on the enforceability of arbitration agreements, but Concepcion declared that rule invalid as a matter of federal law. Today, in DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, No. 14-462, the Supreme Court held that Section 2 preempts a state-law interpretation of an arbitration agreement based on a legal rule that the state's courts had applied only in the arbitration context, concluding that the state-law ruling "does not rest 'upon