Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed that the Federal Arbitration Act

5/30/2017 | Construction Blog

On May 15, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws placing agreements to arbitrate on weaker footing than other types of contracts.  In Kindred Nursing Centers L.P. v. Clark, the Supreme Court found that: “A court may invalidate an arbitration agreement based on ‘generally applicable contract defenses,’ but not on legal rules that ‘apply only to arbitration or that derive their meaning from the fact that an agreement to arbitrate is at issue.’”  A copy of the Kindred case may be found here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/16-32_o7jp.pdf