Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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The June Part 2 of this article noted that the U.S Supreme Court was “now poised in Smith v. Spizzirri, No. 22-1218. . . to decide. . . ‘[w]hether Section 3 of the [Federal Arbitration Act] requires district courts to stay a lawsuit pending arbitration, or whether district courts have discretion to dismiss when all claims are subject to arbitration.’”

This author opined that “[i]n the course of answering this question, it seems possible the Court may provide some guidance bearing on the relationship between Section 3 stays and continuing jurisdiction to hear post-award motions under FAA Sections 9, 10, and 11.”

On May 16, as Part 2 was nearing press time, the nation’s top Court decided the case, which held that “[w]hen a federal court finds that a dispute is subject to arbitration,” a Section 3 stay of litigation pending arbitration is mandatory if requested, and “the court does not have discretion to dismiss the suit on the basis that all the claims are subject to arbitration.” Spizzirri, 601 U.S. at ___, slip op. at 3.