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The Supreme Court of Alabama refused to grant a motion to compel arbitration brought pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) when the party invoking arbitration failed to present any evidence of a transaction "involving" interstate commerce.
In Keene v. Hayden, No. 1051673, 2007 WL 707540 (Ala. Mar. 09, 2007), Hayden moved to compel arbitration of a dispute over the dimensions of property conveyed by a real estate sales contract.
However, the Court refused to grant the motion to compel arbitration and found that Hayden had failed to demonstrate that the contract "involved" interstate commerce, as required by the FAA. 9 U.S.C. § 2.
Hayden offered the sales contract in support of his motion to compel, but the Court held that this document alone was insufficient to establish even the lenient standard of a transaction "involving" interstate commerce.
Additionally, while Hayden's counsel verbally asserted that interstate commerce was involved during the attempted sale, the mere arguments of counsel are not evidence. Turner v. West Ridge Apartments, Inc., 893 So.2d 332, 335 (Ala. 2004).
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