Legalzoom.com, Inc., Appellant v. Jonathan McIllwain, Appellee

Summary

The court held that the circuit court improperly denied arbitration based on the alleged unauthorized practice of law rather than determining whether the arbitration clause itself was invalid. The allegation concerned the underlying contract and did not establish that the arbitration provision was unconscionable, while any state-law rule categorically excluding the private claim from arbitration would be displaced by the Federal Arbitration Act. The court reversed and remanded with instructions to compel arbitration. Chief Justice Hannah, dissenting, would have upheld the denial because regulation of the practice of law is an independent judicial responsibility unaffected by the contract's arbitration clause.