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The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a petition by Ascension Data & Analytics LLC seeking clarity on whether a court or arbitrator should decide the preclusive effect of a prior judgment. The petition stemmed from a dispute over a data extraction services contract between Ascension and Pairprep Inc., which led to an arbitral award favoring Pairprep. Ascension argued that the Fifth Circuit erred in dismissing its bid to vacate the award and asked the justices to resolve a conflict between the federal policy favoring arbitration and the doctrine of res judicata, which bars courts from reexamining claims already decided.

Ascension Data Extraction Award Suit : Arbitration and Jurisdictional Conflict

The Fifth Circuit had previously ruled that Ascension’s attempt to overturn the arbitral award was an effort to relitigate issues resolved in arbitration. The appellate court held that this did not provide an independent basis for federal question jurisdiction. In its petition, Ascension contended that this interpretation undermined the balance between arbitration policy and judicial authority under res judicata principles.