Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co.

Decided June 17, 1974. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-781 · 417 U.S. 506 (1974) · Cited 1,616 times

Holding

The arbitration clause is to be respected and enforced by federal courts in accord with the explicit provisions of the United States Arbitration Act that an arbitration agreement, such as is here involved, 'shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.' 9 U.S.C.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Wilko v. Swan · 346 U.S. 427 (1953)
• The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co. · 407 U.S. 1 (1972)
• Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg. Co. · 388 U.S. 395 (1967)
• J. I. Case Co. v. Borak · 377 U.S. 426 (1964)
• Tcherepnin v. Knight · 389 U.S. 332 (1967)
• Bernhardt v. Polygraphic Co. of America, Inc. · 350 U.S. 198 (1956)
• Langnes v. Green · 282 U.S. 531 (1931)
• United States & Interstate Commerce Commission v. American Railway Express Co. · 265 U.S. 425 (1924)
• Walling v. General Industries Co. · 330 U.S. 545 (1947)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Shearson/American Express Inc. v. McMahon · 482 U.S. 220 (1987)
• Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. · 473 U.S. 614 (1985)
• Volt Info. Sciences, Inc. v. Bd. of Trustees of Leland Stanford Jr. U. · 489 U.S. 468 (1989)
• Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. v. Byrd · 470 U.S. 213 (1985)
• Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. · 490 U.S. 477 (1989)
• Vimar Seguros Y Reaseguros, S. A. v. M/V Sky Reefer · 515 U.S. 528 (1995)
• Allied-Bruce Terminix Cos., Inc. v. Dobson · 513 U.S. 265 (1995)
• Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis · 584 U.S. 497 (2018)
• Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp. · 487 U.S. 22 (1988)
• Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. · 500 U.S. 20 (1991)
• Southland Corp. v. Keating · 465 U.S. 1 (1984)
• Doctor's Associates, Inc. v. Casarotto · 517 U.S. 681 (1996)
• Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp. · 559 U.S. 662 (2010)
• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Waffle House, Inc. · 534 U.S. 279 (2002)
• Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle · 539 U.S. 444 (2003)
• 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett · 556 U.S. 247 (2009)
• Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana · 596 U.S. 639 (2022)
• Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. v. Bill Harbert Construction Co. · 529 U.S. 193 (2000)
• Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski · 599 U.S. 736 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1974). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).