NC Financial Solutions of Utah, LLC v. Virginia, ex rel. Mark R. Herring, Attorney General

Virginia’s attorney general brought this case against petitioner under state law, seeking individualized relief on behalf of people who borrowed money from petitioner pursuant to a loan agreement. That agreement contains a provision requiring individual arbitration of any claim “arising from or relating directly or indirectly to this Agreement,” including “claims asserted on [the borrower’s] behalf by another person.” Although the attorney general’s claims for individualized relief would indisputably be covered by the agreement to arbitrate if asserted by the borrowers themselves, the Virginia Supreme Court held that the attorney general could assert those claims on the borrowers’ behalf in litigation because he was not a signatory to, and therefore not bound by, the arbitration agreement. The question presented is: Whether a state attorney general who is not a signatory to an arbitration agreement may bring claims that are covered by the agreement and seek individualized relief on those claims on behalf of persons who are signatories to the agreement and thus would be required to arbitrate if they brought those claims themselves.