Third Circuit cites Professor Horton on question of arbitration about arbitration

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit cited Professor David Horton’s 2018 Stanford Law Review article “Arbitration About Arbitration” in affirming a lower court’s decision in MZM Constr. Co. v. N.J. Bldg. Laborers Statewide Benefit Funds.

Writing for the court, Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo described the case’s central issue as “mind-bending” and “the queen of all threshold issues,” quoting Horton’s article. That issue is, Restrepo explained, “who decides – a court or an arbitrator – whether an agreement exists, when the putative agreement includes an arbitration provision empowering an arbitrator to decide whether an agreement exists.”

The court decided that the court decides, affirming a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Professor Horton joined the King Hall faculty in 2012.  His primary research and teaching interests are wills and trusts, contracts, and arbitration law.  In 2015, his article "In Partial Defense of Probate: Evidence from Alameda County, California" was selected as the winner of the 29th annual Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Scholarly Paper Competition and he was honored with UC Davis School of Law’s Distinguished Teaching Award.