Transouth Financial Corporation v. Ronald A. Bell

Summary

The court held that the defendants made a prima facie showing of a written arbitration agreement covering Bell's prior loans and a transaction involving interstate commerce, shifting the evidentiary burden to Bell. Because Bell offered no supporting evidence of fraudulent inducement in the trial-court record, and the appellate court would not consider an affidavit attached only to his brief, the order denying arbitration was reversed and remanded. Justice Johnstone, concurring, noted that the record was insufficient to address Bell's argument concerning the insurance-company defendants and the McCarran-Ferguson Act.