Failure of Parties to Identify an Arbitration Forum Can Invalidate an Arbitration Agreement for Lack of Mutual Assent

In a recent appellate court opinion of first impression in New Jersey, the Appellate Division reversed a trial court’s order compelling arbitration and found the parties’ failure to identify any arbitration forum or the process for choosing that forum was not a “meeting of minds.” Pursuant to basic principles of contract law, the Appellate Division invalidated the arbitration clause.