PHILADELPHIA, August 18, 2017: Morgan Lewis partners Scott Schutte, Thomas Sullivan, and Ezra Church have contributed a chapter on class action waivers in arbitration provisions to the soon-to-be published second edition of the American Bar Association’s A Practitioner's Guide to Class Actions. Published by the association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, the comprehensive guide details the many intricacies of a class action lawsuit, offering a state-by-state analysis of the ways in which the class action rules differ from the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.
The chapter, “Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Provisions,” authored by the Morgan Lewis team underscores the importance of enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration provisions for businesses selling goods or services to a large number of buyers under standardized contracts. In recent years, the Supreme Court and lower courts have decided several cases analyzing the enforceability of such provisions. The authors explore the colorful history of the Federal Arbitration Act and the trend toward federalization of arbitration law in a series of Supreme Court cases. “Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Provisions” also addresses the most common types of attacks on the enforceability of such provisions on grounds of unconscionability, waiver of rights theories, and challenges to contract formation, issues that will continue to receive significant attention from the courts.
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