Page:Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Frank Varela.pdf/24

Rh

, dissenting. Although I join ’s and ’s dissents in full, I also dissent for another reason. In my view, the Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to hear this case. Consequently, we lack jurisdiction as well. See 28 U. S. C. §1254. My reason for reaching this conclusion is the following. The Federal Arbitration Act, at §4, says that a “court,” upon being satisfied that the parties have agreed to arbitrate a claim, “shall make an order directing the parties to proceed to arbitration in accordance with the terms of the agreement.” 9 U. S. C. §4. Section 16 of the Act then says that “an appeal may not be taken from an interlocutory order… directing arbitration to proceed under section 4 of this title.” §16(b)(2) (emphasis added). And directing arbitration to proceed is just what the District Court did here. App. to Pet. for Cert. 23a.

These statutory provisions reflect a congressional effort (in respect to a specific subject matter) to help resolve a more general problem. Too few interlocutory appeals will too often impose upon parties delay and expense that an interlocutory appeal, by quickly correcting a lower court error, might have spared them. But too many