SIXTH CIRCUIT ANSWERS A QUESTION LEFT OPEN BY THE SUPREME COURT: CLASSWIDE ARBITRABILITY IS A GATEWAY QUESTION SUBJECT TO JUDICIAL DETERMINATION
The threshold issue before the Sixth Circuit on an appeal from a dispute involving LexisNexis and one of its law firm customers was whether the question of classwide arbitrability is a gateway question to be determined by the court or a subsidiary question to be determined by an arbitrator, a question expressly left open by the Supreme Court in its most recent term. Following an analysis of recent Supreme Court jurisprudence, which seemed to lean toward deciding that classwide arbitrarily is a gateway question, the Sixth Circuit definitively stated that it is a gateway question reserved for judicial determination. The Court next analyzed the arbitration clause at issue in the dispute and held that it did not authorize class arbitration because it was silent on that issue and limited the scope of arbitration to the specific order between LexisNexis and the law firm, precluding the arbitration of other customers’ orders with LexisNexis. Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Crockett, No. 12-3574 (6th Cir. Nov. 5, 2013).
This post written by Abigail Kortz.
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