Supreme Court Reaffirms Broad Scope of Arbitration Clause
Whenever 8 of the 9 U.S. Supreme Court Justices vote the same way in a particular case, you can assume the issue is relatively free of doubt. And so it was with yesterday's decision in which the Court held that an arbitration clause contained in a contract that may be void on some basis (such as illegality) is still enforceable and thus still requires arbitration of the dispute. The Court acknowledged that its holding would from time to time result in compelling arbitration in a contract the arbitrator later finds to be void.
The holding is not a surprise, given the Court's precedent in this field, but it again is a reminder to those who include arbitration clauses in construction agreements of the potent scope of such clauses and of the care which needs to accompany their drafting.