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Ryan's certiorari petition
June 26, 2005 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo

The 6th Circuit refused to enforce a pre-dispute arbitration agreement signed by employees of Ryan's Family Steakhouses' multi-state restaurant chain. Walker v. Ryan's (6th Cir 03/09/2005). Ryan's has petitioned [here] the US Supreme Court for a writ a certiorari.

Ryan's lost on several issues, and the petition invites the Supreme Court to correct them. The formal "Questions Presented" section of the petition raises four main points, claiming that the Court of Appeals improperly:

• Used a heightened "knowing and voluntary" standard for waiver of a jury trial.
• Used extraordinary scrutiny to declare the agreements unconscionable under state law, thus showing hostility to arbitration agreements.
• Applied the law of Tennessee to agreements that were entered into in other states.
• Invalidated the agreements based on a perceived potential for structural bias in the arbitration system.

Lawyers on the petition: Michael S. Pitts (counsel of record) and E. Grantland Burns of Nexsen Pruet Adams Kleemeir; David E. Nagle of LeClair Ryan.

My view:

• The real question in a petition for a writ of certiorari is whether a case merits the precious time and attention of nine Supreme Court Justices. Let's assume the 6th Circuit was wrong on all four points raised in the petition. In order to win, Ryan's must prevail on all four of them. That makes this case somewhat cumbersome for the Court, which prefers to decide single-issue cases.
• The Court is usually looking for cases that involve a split of authority between the Circuits, and Ryan's does not make a good case for such a split.
• Perhaps the Court will see this as case as being important because the 6th Circuit used a variety of legal devices to circumvent the core policy of the Federal Arbitration Act, which was to eliminate judicial hostility toward arbitration agreements.

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