Sharif v. Wellness International Network  What is the standard
for dismissing a motion to compel arbitration?   The Circuit
Court held that when a motion to compel arbitration is made, the
Court is required to rule on it first, before proceeding to rule
on any other aspect of the case. Sharif, a WIN distributor sued
WIN, claiming that it was an illegal pyramid scheme. WIN moved
to transfer the proceeding for lack of venue, and later moved to
compel arbitration under the arbitration clause contained within
Sharif's distributor agreement with the company. The District
Court ruled the arbitration motion was superfluous because the
motion to transfer venue was already before the court. On
appeal, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the district court erred
in not ruling on the motion to compel arbitration. The Federal
Arbitration Act requires a judge to first consider any motion to
compel arbitration before ruling on any other dispositive
motions. Further, despite the district judges ruling, the claims
of the multiple