AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (U.S. Supreme Court)

AT&T Mobility’s customer agreements require disputes to be resolved on an individual basis in arbitration. To ensure that individual arbitration is a realistic means of resolving small disputes, ATTM’s arbitration provision specifies that ATTM will pay the full cost of arbitration; that arbitrators may award any remedy on an individual basis that a court could; that ATTM will pay customers who are awarded more in arbitration than ATTM’s last settlement offer the amount of the award or $7,500 (now $10,000), whichever is greater, plus double attorneys’ fees; and that under no circumstances will ATTM seek an award of attorneys’ fees from a customer. Although the district court and Ninth Circuit found that customers could vindicate their claims under ATTM’s arbitration clause, they nonetheless concluded that the clause is unconscionable under California law solely because it precludes class actions. The Supreme Court granted our petition for certiorari and proceeded to hold that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts this interpretation of California law.