On June 23, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States in Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski held that all federal courts must stay litigation proceedings while a motion to compel arbitration is appealed. This decision resolves a long-standing split between federal districts in favor of a uniform rule applicable to all federal courts. Prior to Bielski, some federal courts favored an automatic stay during the appeal of a denial of a motion to compel arbitration. Others allowed the litigation and appeal to proceed concurrently.
In the Bielski case, a proposed class of plaintiffs sued in federal court alleging that Coinbase, an online currency trading platform, failed to replace funds fraudulently taken from users’ accounts by criminal third parties. As is common in consumer contracts, Coinbase’s User Agreement provided for dispute resolution through binding arbitration.
Coinbase sought to enforce… Read more
