In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a series of

high-profile decisions addressing the enforceability of class

arbitration waivers (Concepcion and American Express) and the

interpretation of arbitration clauses that are silent on class

arbitration (Stolt-Nielsen and Sutter). This panel will examine the

implications of those decisions for class relief in the U.S. — both

class actions and class arbitrations — and for transnational class

actions between the U.S. and Canada. It will also consider how

Canadian courts have addressed similar issues, offering a

comparative perspective on the intersection of class actions and

commercial arbitration.

 

PROF. DRAHOZAL: The title of the program is Mass and Class

Claims in Arbitration. We’ve just heard some about mass claims

from Carolyn Lamm, and the second panel will talk more about

mass claims in investment arbitration. This panel focuses on the

class claims part of the program — the intersection between class

actions and arbitration.

 

From the U.S. perspective, four Supreme Court cases over the

three prior terms have addressed class claims and arbitration.

The cases deal with two sets of issues. First are the cases

addressing the enforceability of class arbitration waivers: AT&T

Mobility LLC v. Concepcion1 (Concepcion) and American Express Co.

v. Italian Colors Restaurant2 (American Express). The other cases

deal with how to construe arbitration clauses that do not mention