In the immediate aftermath of Justice Antonin Scalia’s February 13, 2016, death, many press accounts focused on Scalia’s views on controversial matters such as the Second Amendment and LGBT rights. Scalia’s most enduring contributions to federal law, however, may be in the workaday areas of civil and administrative procedure. A professed procedure enthusiast, Scalia wrote important opinions on Article III standing,1 class actions,2 and review of administrative agency decisions,3 among other matters. In this column, we consider Justice Scalia’s impact on federal arbitration law under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).4
Restrained View of the FAA
Justice Scalia began his judicial career in 1982 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Four years later, he was elevated to the Supreme Court. His early arbitration decisions suggest a narrow view of the FAA’s reach.
