Page:Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski.pdf/11

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COINBASE, INC. v. BIELSKI

Opinion of the Court

arbitration cases. Cf. Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., 586 U. S. ___, ___ (2019) (slip op., at 8). Nor does Bielski argue that Coinbase’s appeal in this case is frivolous. Importantly, moreover, the courts of appeals possess robust tools to prevent unwarranted delay and deter frivolous interlocutory appeals. For example, a party can ask the court of appeals to summarily affirm, to expedite an interlocutory appeal, or to dismiss the interlocutory appeal as frivolous. In addition, nearly every circuit has developed a process by which a district court itself may certify that an interlocutory appeal is frivolous. Brief for Petitioner 51; see also Arthur Andersen LLP v. Carlisle, 556 U. S. 624, 629 (2009) (“Appellate courts can streamline the disposition of meritless claims and even authorize the district court’s retention of” a case “when an appeal is certified as frivolous”). Finally, a court of appeals may impose sanctions where appropriate; the possibility of sanctions also helps deter frivolous appeals. See Fed. Rule App. Proc. 38; Arthur Andersen, 556 U. S., at 629.

Second, Bielski contrasts §16(a) with two other statutory provisions that contain an explicit stay requirement—§3 of the Federal Arbitration Act and §1292(d)(4) of Title 28. Bielski suggests that Congress would not have included those explicit stay requirements in §3 and §1292(d)(4) unless Congress thought that an interlocutory appeal did not ordinarily stay district court proceedings. Bielski is wrong.

Section 3 of the Act provides for a stay of court proceedings pending arbitration, not pending an appeal. That situation does not fall within the Griggs rule. No background principle requires automatic stays of district court proceedings pending arbitration. In order to automatically stay court proceedings pending arbitration in those cases, Congress therefore affirmatively codified a stay requirement.

As to §1292(d)(4): When Congress added §1292(d)(4)’s