2012 Arkansas Code
Title 16 - Practice, Procedure, And Courts
Subtitle 7 - Particular Proceedings And Remedies
Chapter 108 - Arbitration And Award
Subchapter 2 - -- Uniform Arbitration Act
§ 16-108-210 - Consolidation of separate arbitration proceedings.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, upon motion of a party to an agreement to arbitrate or to an arbitration proceeding, the court may order consolidation of separate arbitration proceedings as to all or some of the claims if:

(1) There are separate agreements to arbitrate or separate arbitration proceedings between the same persons, or one (1) of them is a party to a separate agreement to arbitrate or a separate arbitration proceeding with a third person;

(2) The claims subject to the agreements to arbitrate arise in substantial part from the same transaction or series of related transactions;

(3) The existence of a common issue of law or fact creates the possibility of conflicting decisions in the separate arbitration proceedings; and

(4) Prejudice resulting from a failure to consolidate is not outweighed by the risk of undue delay or prejudice to the rights of or hardship to parties opposing consolidation.

(b) The court may order consolidation of separate arbitration proceedings as to some claims and allow other claims to be resolved in separate arbitration proceedings.

(c) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the court may not order consolidation of the claims of a party to an agreement to arbitrate if the agreement prohibits consolidation.

(d) (1) An agreement that prohibits the consolidation of arbitration claims or proceedings or denies arbitration for a class of persons involving substantially similar issues shall be closely scrutinized and shall not be enforced if found unconscionable.

(2) An agreement may be found unconscionable under this subdivision (d) if:

(A) The agreement is unreasonable, one-sided, or contains language that is difficult to notice or to understand;

(B) A meaningful choice of whether or not to agree to the arbitration provisions of the agreement is not provided; or

(C) The agreement is not balanced or fair under reasonable standards of fair dealing.