KPMG LLP v. Robert Cocci et al, 565 U.S. ___ (2011)

Agreements to arbitrate that fall within the scope and coverage of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., must be enforced in state and federal courts.  The Act has been interpreted to require that if a dispute presents multiple claims, some arbitratable and some not, the former must be sent to arbitration even if this will lead to piecemeal litigation.

In this case, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida upheld a trial court's refusal to compel arbitration of respondents' claims after determining that two of the four claims in a complaint were nonarbitrable.  A fair reading of the opinion indicates a likelihood that the Court of Appeal failed to determine whether the other two claims int he complaint were arbitrable.  For this reason, the judgment of the Court of Appeal was vacated, and the case remanded for further proceedings.