The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s ruling denying a motion by Live Nation and Ticketmaster to compel arbitration of claims by ticket purchasers, finding that the arbitration agreement contained in Ticketmaster’s website Terms of Use was procedurally and substantively unconscionable and thus unenforceable under California law. Notably, the arbitration clause required arbitration with a digital arbitration vendor (New Era ADR) under New Era’s rules for Expedited/Mass Arbitrations. Mass arbitration, a developing dispute resolution system, involves a large group of demands filed on behalf of or against a common party, out of which one plaintiff may be chosen to represent the larger group of plaintiffs, otherwise known as a “bellwether plaintiff.” The plaintiffs in Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. filed a putative class action alleging that the defendants engaged in predatory ticket pricing. In response, the defendants sought to enforce Ticketmaster’s Terms of Use, which required the dispute to be resolved through arbitration. These Terms specifically provided that claims stemming from current or prior online ticket purchases be decided by an arbitrator employed by New Era, who, under its delegation clause, also had the authority to determine the validity of the arbitration agreement. The district court denied the motion to compel arbitration. In affirming the district court’s decision, the Ninth Circuit emphasized the lack...