Third Circuit Alters Sequencing of Questions Raised in Section 1 of Federal Arbitration Act.

December 16, 2021 Since Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, LL.C, 716 F.3d 764 (3d Cir. 2013), trial judges in the Third Circuit have followed a fairly consistent pattern when faced with a motion by a defendant to compel arbitration: If the complaint contains sufficient information on which to decide the motion under a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 (b)(6) standard, then the court will proceed to decide the motion based on the arbitration agreement and other facts alleged (or documents referenced or attached). On the renewed motion, the court would determine If section 1 applied and, if so, whether the State law applicable to the arbitration agreement would require arbitration. On appeal, Amazon argued that discovery was not required and that the district court's initial inquiry should have been what law applied to the arbitration agreement assuming that the section 1 exemption applied to the plaintiff. [Extracted from the article]