May Lawsuit update

On April 13, 2004, the Ohio Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction of the following limited issue in conjunction with defendants' appeal of the First District Court of Appeals' decision denying defendants' motion to compel arbitration in the Ohio litigation:

In determining whether a cause of action is within the scope of an arbitration agreement, may a state court in Ohio base that determination on a federal standard that inquires whether the "action to could be maintained without reference to the contract or relationship at issue?" Fazio v. Lehman Bros., Inc. (C.A.6, 2003), 340 F.3d 386, 395 citing Ford v. NYLCare Health Plans of Gulf Coast, Inc. (C.A.5, 1998), 141 F.3d 243, 250-251.

The Academy of Medicine of Cincinnati, the Butler County Medical Society, and the representative doctors have filed a motion to dismiss the appeal as improvidently granted, which is pending before the Court. The Ohio State Medical Association has also sought leave to file an amicus curiae memorandum in support of the motion to dismiss.