Matthew Green Featured in The Legal Intelligencer on State-Federal Court Divide Over Online Arbitration Agreements
Matthew Green, partner and Deputy Chair of Obermayer’s Litigation Department, was quoted in The Legal Intelligencer on June 10, 2025. The article, titled “Landmark Ruling on Online Arbitration Agreements Sows Divide Between Pa.’s State and Federal Courts,” discusses the growing split between Pennsylvania’s state and federal courts over online arbitration agreements.
The divide arises from the 2023 Chilutti v. Uber decision, where the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that certain online arbitration clauses, especially those hidden in hyperlinked terms, may not be enforceable. State courts have largely followed the decision, while federal courts have not, arguing it conflicts with federal arbitration law.
Matthew Green explained that district courts are bound by state high courts, but not by rulings out of state intermediate appellate courts like the Pennsylvania Superior Court. State trial courts, on the other hand, “have a lot less wiggle room to go and take a contrary view than federal courts do,” Green said, “and that is really driving the split.”
While the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to review Chilutti, Green noted that although federal opinions might be considered, “the underlying rationale is going to be more important to the court than what these district judges are saying.”
Read the full article here.
