Increasingly, attention has been drawn by courts and commentators to arbitrators’ authority and the scope of awards they may issue. For example, the two most recent articles in The Legal in this column have focused on whether and when an arbitrator might award post-judgment interest that differed from the statutory rate. (See Charles F. Forer’s “Difference Between Post-Judgment, Post-Award Interest,” published July 9; and my article “Are There Limits to an Arbitrator’s Award of Interest,” published June 18.)
Similarly, the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld an arbitrator’s authority to decide whether to allow class action arbitration proceedings. In that case, Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, No. 12-135, June 10, 2013, the agreement contained broad contractual language precluding litigation and requiring arbitration of any dispute arising under the contract. In both a footnote and a concurring opinion, however, the Supreme Court specifically noted that this holding might be limited as the parties had consented to the arbitrator deciding in the first instance whether the contract authorized class arbitration.
