Over the past several years, the Supreme Court has issued numerous decisions interpreting and enforcing various provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Whether the FAA has come before the court due to an ongoing rise and recognition of arbitration as an accepted clause in the underlying agreements or as an increasing form of dispute resolution adopted voluntarily by the parties is unclear, but certainly the use of dispute resolution as a tool in a litigator’s toolbox is expanding at a great enough pace that splits in the circuits continue to arise with some degree of frequency and at a level to warrant the attention of our highest court.

This article touches on several decisions and the potential impact they have on the trajectory of a litigation and/or strategy of litigators.