Introduction

For more than a decade, the Montana Supreme Court has resolutely struggled to temper the influence of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)[1] on arbitration agreements executed by citizens of Montana. Since the advent of the United States Supreme Court's 1995 vacatur of the Montana Supreme Court's decision in Casarotto v. Lombardi ,[2] however, the Montana Supreme Court has fought a losing, rear-guard battle to maintain control over arbitrations that affect both Montana and interstate commerce. Contemporaneously, a steady stream of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and, to a ...