Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37(2)(b), the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) respect-fully requests leave of the Court to file the accompa-nying brief as amicus curiae in support of petitioner, BG Group plc. Consent to file the accompanying brief was granted by petitioner and refused by respondent. 

The petition for a writ of certiorari asks this Court to reverse the decision of the D.C. Circuit, which held that courts, not arbitrators, have the authority to decide de novo whether a precondition to arbitration has been complied with. The decision below invites increased judicial intervention into the arbitration process. The decision is therefore likely to have far-reaching implications for the practice of arbitration in the United States and the future of the United States as a place of arbitration. 

The AAA has a direct and substantial interest in the petition. The AAA is the nation’s leading pro-vider of arbitration services domestically, and its international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, is the world’s largest provider of international arbitrations. Accordingly, the AAA seeks to ensure the continued development of arbi-tration law in a manner that supports the use of arbi-tration and that is consistent with the national policy favoring arbitration embodied in the Federal Arbitra-tion Act.