The coming week could be a big one for arbitration cases at the United States Supreme Court. First, the Court will hear oral argument in Rent-a-Center West v. Jackson, No. 09-497 on Monday April 26, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. Rent-a-Center, which arises under the Federal Arbitration Act, raises the question whether courts or arbitrators get to decide whether an arbitration agreement is unconscionable if the parties clearly and unmistakably agree to submit arbitrability questions to arbitration. (You can read more about the case here, here, here and here.)

The oral argument transcript will be available online at the United States Supreme Court website (here) by about 4:00 p.m. or so Monday. You'll certainly hear about the oral argument here and in the Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum.

Second, the Supreme Court announced on Friday, April 23, 2010 that it expects to hand down some decisions on Tuesday and Wednesday. We obviously do not know which ones these will be, but there are two arbitration-related cases that have been fully submitted for some time, and are probably ripe for decision.

One, Stolt-Nielsen, S.A. v. AnimalFeeds, Inc., No. 08-1198, presents the question whether a court or arbitration panel may, consistent with the Federal Arbitration Act, impose class arbitration on a party whose arbitration agreements are silent on that subject. The answer to that question will likely answer a related question that is of special concern to those involved in reinsurance and other types of industry arbitration: Can a panel or court impose consolidated arbitration on a party whose arbitration agreements are silent on that subject? I have written extensively on this case, and you can find links to these articles via my most recent article on the subject, here.

The other,Granite Rock Co. v. Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters, No. 08-1214, which arises under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act concerns whether, on the facts presented, arbitration must go forward and what it should encompass. (See our Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum Posts here and here.)

Because Stolt-Nielsen has been fully submitted since December 9, 2009, and Granite Rock since January 19, 2010, there is at least a possibility that decisions in one or both could be handed down this coming week. I would not place high odds on that happening, but, as the adage goes, "anything is possible."