In MZM Contr. Co. v. NJ Bldg. Laborers Statewide Benefit Funds, the 3rd Circuit confronted “the queen of all threshold issues” in arbitration law, namely who decides whether an arbitration agreement exists when the disagreement is over whether the arbitration agreement exists. Is it the courts or the arbitrator? In this instance, the 3rd Circuit ruled that, in the absence of clear and unmistakable language evincing the agreement in a contract, the question is to be determined by courts.
