Your irrelevant SCOTUS comment aside, we need to make sure we&#x27;re comparing apples to oranges.<p>From the article:<p>&gt; <i>the judge ruled that Encore’s lawsuit to collect the debt was separate from Ms. Thompson’s case accusing the company of violating the law.</i><p>Disregarding the fact that the original judge should not have awarded a debt that was past SOL, it seems perfectly reasonable to me that Encore taking action to collect a debt it purchased is a separate legal question from a claim that Encore is violating the law. I&#x27;m not saying they are related of course, but I have a feeling the arbitration agreement is pretty clear that if you want to sue Encore you have to use arbitration.