In re Apple & AT&TM Antitrust Litigation, No. C 07-05152 JW (Feb. 1, 2012) (Ware, J.)

Judge Ware certified for interlocutory appeal the question of whether a non-signatory may assert equitable arbitration estoppel against a signatory plaintiff.

The case involves a Sherman Act Section 2 / aftermarket claim against Apple. The case arose from the plaintiff’s service contract with defendant ATTM. As part of that service contract, the plaintiff signed an arbitration agreement with defendant ATTM which precluded class arbitrations and class actions.

The district court initially followed Mundi v. Union Security Life Ins. Co., 555 F.3d 1042 (9th Cir. 2009), in finding that equitable estoppel required plaintiff to arbitrate with non-signatory Apple as well. The Mundi court had found a dearth of prior Ninth Circuit precedent, and had looked to other circuits for guidance — in particular, the Second Circuit in Sokol Holdings, Inc. v. BMB Munai, Inc., 542 F.3d 354 (2d Cir. 2008). The Ninth Circuit allowed the assertion of equitable estoppel where the dispute is “intertwined” with the contract and there is a sufficient “relationship” between the parties.

Please see full article below for more information.