Arbitrability of Mental Capacity Defenses Under the Federal Arbitration Act and California Law | Practical Law

Arbitrability of Mental Capacity Defenses Under the Federal Arbitration Act and California Law | Practical Law

This Article examines whether the Prima Paint rule applies to a mental capacity defense. The Prima Paint decision holds that unless the challenge is to the arbitration clause itself, the arbitrator determines the issue of the contract's validity. Although the law is not universally settled, federal and state court decisions have either held or suggested that people who lack the mental capacity to enter into any agreement should not be assumed to have agreed to arbitrate the issue of mental capacity, and the court should therefore consider the mental capacity defense in the first instance.

Arbitrability of Mental Capacity Defenses Under the Federal Arbitration Act and California Law

by Erik M. Ideta, Mackaness & Ideta, LLP, with Practical Law Litigation
Law stated as of 15 Sep 2021 • California
This Article examines whether the Prima Paint rule applies to a mental capacity defense. The Prima Paint decision holds that unless the challenge is to the arbitration clause itself, the arbitrator determines the issue of the contract's validity. Although the law is not universally settled, federal and state court decisions have either held or suggested that people who lack the mental capacity to enter into any agreement should not be assumed to have agreed to arbitrate the issue of mental capacity, and the court should therefore consider the mental capacity defense in the first instance.