Morrison Mahoney Partner Chris Monson recently prevailed before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which overturned a Superior Court ruling and enforced an arbitration agreement contained in an online contract. The case has far-reaching implications beyond the rideshare context at issue and will be considered a leading precedent when courts in other jurisdictions review similar disputes. Good v Uber Technologies Inc., Mass., No. SJC-13490 (June 7, 2024).
Plaintiff contended that the online contract in question was unenforceable because the plaintiff was not required to view the terms and conditions before agreeing to them. According to the plaintiff, to be enforceable, a digital contract must display the full terms and conditions on the user’s device (in this case, a smartphone) and require the user to scroll through those terms and conditions before agreeing to them (a process often referred to as “scrollwrap”).
Relying on well-established caselaw regarding contract formation before the digital age, as well as modern caselaw promoting the continued utility of these principles, Chris argued that the user need only be provided a reasonable opportunity to review the terms before manifesting their assent and that a prominently displayed hyperlink directing the user to those terms and conditions is sufficient to provide this opportunity. The SJC agreed, reinforcing the position that the user’s decision not to review the terms of a contract before agreeing to them does not invalidate the agreement. Associate Chanchal Agrawal contributed to the success of this case with the needed research and writing of the brief.
