October Term 2002 · Docket 01-800

Who decides if a securities claim is too old?

Investors and a brokerage firm dispute who decides if a claim is time-barred.

Official caption
Howsam v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc.
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Official Transcript

Verified source milestones

  1. — An official oral-argument transcript was verified.
  2. — An official oral-argument transcript was verified.

The arguments, in order

This case may have been argued more than once. Each entry below uses that session's official transcript. Later arguments do not erase earlier ones.

  1. Argument 1 ·

    What happened at the argument

    Mr. Friedberg argued the firm pushed investors into arbitration.

    Mr. Roberts argued the arbitrator should decide the timeliness issue.

    Mr. Starr argued the contract determines who decides the issue.

    Read the official transcript for this argument · Official argument details

    Sources used for this argument breakdown

A citizen's guide to the whole case

What this case is about

This case asks who decides if a claim is too old. The investors want a judge to decide. The firm wants an arbitrator to decide.

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How the case got here

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in this case on October 9, 2002.

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What each side wants

The investors want a judge to decide if their claim is too old.

The firm wants an arbitrator to decide if the claim is too old.

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What each side says

The investors argue the judge must decide the timeliness issue.

The firm argues the arbitrator must decide the timeliness issue.

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What the justices asked

The Chief Justice asked if the parties intended to arbitrate under specific rules.

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Why it matters

This dispute determines who controls the timeliness of investor claims. It affects the balance of power in financial arbitration.

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What happens next

This article currently covers the argument record. Use the official docket link for later case activity.

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Official Court provenance

Official docket and case history · Official Supreme Court oral-argument detail page

Title and summary sources

Revision history

  1. Revision 1 · Official Transcript ·

    Correction: Rewritten to the concise citizen-facing editorial standard.

  2. Revision 2 · Official Transcript ·

    Correction: Migrated to the dated official Court activity contract without model use.

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