Feasibility Of Class Arbitration

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While the notion of class arbitration has been a theoretical possibility for many years, class arbitration was not viewed as a device of any prominence until the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2003 in Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle . It is important to stress that, in Green Tree , the Supreme Court did not fashion a change in the law; it did not hold for the first time that class actions could be brought in the arbitration context. The Supreme Court addressed a narrower question: Given that a case may be submitted to arbitration on behalf of a class, who, as between a court and an arbitrator, has the authority to determine whether an arbitration clause that is silent on the issue permits a case to be submitted on behalf of a class? The Court held that it is for an arbitrator to decide. Keywords: arbitration clause; arbitrator; class actions; class arbitration; Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle ; U.S. Supreme court