The U.S. Supreme Court has issued frequent opinions involving interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act (the FAA), which governs the enforcement of arbitration agreements in federal court. On May 16, Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing for a unanimous court issued an opinion in Smith v. Spizzirri, regarding the supervisory role of federal courts in cases that should be arbitrated, reinforcing the importance of arbitration as a method of dispute resolution, particularly in franchise disputes.