All Alone in Arbitration: AT&T Mobility V. Concepcion and the Substantive Impact of Class Action Waivers‪.‬

INTRODUCTION On April 27, 2011, the Supreme Court announced its decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, (1) one of the most closely watched cases of the 2010 Term. In Concepcion, the Court considered whether states may condition the enforceability of arbitration agreements on the availability of class-wide arbitration proceedings. (2) While the subject of class arbitration is rarely viewed as a headline-grabbing legal topic, Concepcion attracted the attention of many consumer advocates, corporate counsel, and procedural scholars because of its far-reaching implications for consumer and employment contracts and class action policy. (3) Ultimately, the Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts states from invalidating class action waivers in arbitration agreements because these invalidations stand as an obstacle to the purposes behind the FAA. (4)