Hot Topics: Year-End Wrap-Up, and 2026 Look-Ahead, on Appellate Arbitration Cases

What’s next in alternative dispute resolution for individual participants and corporate programs? And what will the U.S. Supreme Court do with two (and maybe more) arbitration cases? 

The CPR Institute’s long-running current events YouTube panel discussion reconvenes after a long absence with hot topics in arbitration focusing on the U.S. Supreme Court’s current docket and potential case-adds. Many of the high-level federal circuit appellate cases also discussed have flown under the radar despite huge practice implications.

The Court this month added a second arbitration case to its 2025-2026 case roster for the current term. At this writing, the argument dates have not been announced, but are expected soon.

These, and more, are the focus of our YouTube panel:

• Philip J. Loree Jr. of New York’s Loree Law Firm at https://loreelawfirm.com/, and writer of the Arbitration Law Forum blog, which discusses in detail topics examined in this YouTube.
• Angela Downes, University of North Texas-Dallas College of Law Professor of Practice and Assistant Director of Experiential Education. She is a neutral in JAMS Dallas office; her firm bio can be found here.
• Richard Faulkner, also in Dallas, is a former judge, and is now of counsel and an attorney-arbitrator-mediator at Bennett Legal (see https://bit.ly/44YCr1R). He is semi-retired  and is teaching and mentoring younger lawyers; he also is a member of the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals. [The CPR Institute runs this blog and wholly owns CPR Dispute Resolution Services, which manages the panel.]

The discussion moderator is Russ Bleemer, editor of CPR's Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation.  He opens the video with a year-in-review overview before the topics discussion.

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Last year, Philip Loree Jr. had teed up in an extensive set of articles in  CPR’s Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation the federal court jurisdiction issues discussed in the video. They presaged the new arbitration case the Supreme Court agreed to hear earlier this month, Jules v. Balazs. Loree’s articles can be found at “The Fourth Circuit Weighs the Post-Badgerow Jurisdictional Anchor—and Finds It Won’t Set,” 142 Alternatives 73 (May 2024); “More on Independent Actions and the ‘Jurisdictional Anchor’: Where the Law on Award Enforcement May Be Going,” 142 Alternatives 95 (June 2024), and "The Supreme Court Rules on Continuing Federal Arbitration Act Jurisdiction After Stays—Almost," 42 Alternatives 110 (July/August 2025).

More recently, Loree revisited federal arbitration jurisdiction circuit court decisions in “Two New Jurisdiction Traps: Arbitration Amounts In Controversy, and New York Convention Application,” 43 Alternatives 141 (October 2025), and, last month, in “N.Y. Convention ‘Trap’: No Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over Petitions to Vacate Foreign Arbitral Awards,” 43 Alternatives 168 (November 2025)--issues that the nation's top Court has agreed to hear in 2026.

Loree’s Alternatives analysis articles are available on Westlaw; free here for CPR Institute members, or by e-mail Alternatives@cpradr.org for access.

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Nearly every case discussed in the YouTube above is subject to in-depth analysis at the CPR Institute’s blog, CPR Speaks, available at www.cpradr.org/news/cpr-speaks.  Here is a guide to the discussion in order of YouTube appearance including some primary case sources; the CPR Speaks posts contain links to summaries of the dispositions, primary sources, and case histories:

• Comcast Cable Communications LLC v. Ramsey  and Tenneco Inc. v. Parker: Fred N. Thomas IV, “Updated 1/14: Supreme Court Declines California Consumer Arbitration Case,” CPR Speaks (Jan. 13, 2025) (available here).
• CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd. v. Antrix Corp. Ltd., No. 23–1201 (June 5, 2025) (decision available at https://bit.ly/3ZmNfUM): Elliot Friedman, David Livshiz, Thomas Walsh, Christian Vandergeest & Amanda Huang, “SCOTUS: Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Does Not Contain a Statutory Minimum Contacts Requirement,” CPR Speaks (June 9, 2025) (available here).
• Hohenshelt v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 15 Cal.5th 698 (Aug. 11) (available here): Leila Orina, “Cali Supreme Court Rules State Law on Arbitration Fees Is Not Preempted by the FAA,” CPR Speaks (Aug. 29, 2025) (available here).
• Live Nation v. Heckman: Russ Bleemer, “UPDATED: Scotus’s New Term Won’t Include New Arbitration Cases. But Wait.” CPR Speaks (Oct. 6, 2025) (available here), and Bryan Ward, “A Review: The Scotus Papers in Live Nation v. Heckman (Updated 9/19),” CPR Speaks (Sept. 17, 2025) (available here).
• Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 113 P.3d 1110 (Cal. 2005)  (available here). 
• Mungo Homes LLC v. Huskins: Bryan Ward, “A Review: Scotus Weighs Taking a South Carolina Supreme Court Decision on Severability & Arbitration,” CPR Speaks (Sept. 24, 2025) (available here). See also, Russ Bleemer, “UPDATED: Scotus’s New Term Won’t Include New Arbitration Cases. But Wait.” CPR Speaks (Oct. 6, 2025) (available here).
• Flowers Foods Inc. v. Brock: Russ Bleemer, “Flowers Foods Gets Another SCOTUS Chance at Limiting the FAA Sec. 1 Arbitration Exemption,” CPR Speaks (Oct. 20, 2025) (available here).
• Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties: Russ Bleemer, “Flowers Foods Gets Another SCOTUS Chance at Limiting the FAA Sec. 1 Arbitration Exemption, CPR Speaks (Oct. 20, 2025) (available here), and Sasha Hill, "A Review: Supreme Court Considers Another FAA Sec. 1 Arbitration Exemption,” CPR Speaks (Sept. 22, 2025) (available at https://bit.ly/4gGvh7h).
• Badgerow v. Walters, 596 U.S. 1 (2002) (available at https://bit.ly/47IX5Up):  Russ Bleemer & Andrew Ling, “Supreme Court Rejects Federal FAA Jurisdiction for Arbitration Award Enforcement and Challenges,” CPR Speaks (March 31, 2022) (available here).
•  SmartSky Networks LLC v. DAG Wireless Ltd., 93 F.4^th 175 (4th Cir. 2024) (available at https://bit.ly/4nTWIwl).
• Smith v. Spizzirri, 601 U.S. 472 (2024) (available here): Lee Williams & Russ Bleemer, “More Plain Text: Scotus Says FAA Sec. 3 Requires Litigation Stays,” CPR Speaks (May 16, 2024) (available here).
• Georgia Attorney General Press Release (Dec. 8, 2025) with link to a letter to three ADR providers on mass arbitration (Dec. 1, 2025) (available at https://bit.ly/4pMfxmY). 
• Kingdom of Spain v. Blasket Renewable Investments LLC, No. 24-1130 (Supreme Court docket available at https://bit.ly/47KcJ2S): Sasha Hill, “Current SCOTUS Review: Is Spain Immune from a Foreign Arbitration Award’s U.S. Confirmation?” CPR Speaks (Oct. 30, 2025) (available here).
• Flores v. N.Y. Football Giants Inc., et al., No. 23-1185 (2d Cir. Aug. 14, 2025) (available at https://bit.ly/47nnJBP): Stephanie Argueta, “Flores Can Go to Court as Second Circuit Slams the NFL’s Arbitration Scheme,” CPR Speaks (Nov. 14, 2025) (available here).
• Feldman v. Sullivan, No. 25-240 (U.S. Supreme Court docket available here).

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