Opinion ID: 865263
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: standard of review

Text: ¶7. “The grant or denial of a motion to compel arbitration is reviewed de novo.” East Ford, Inc. v. Taylor, 826 So. 2d 709, 713 (Miss. 2002). We have previously ruled that lawsuits involving negligence at a nursing home affects interstate commerce, thus invoking the Federal Arbitration Act. Vicksburg Partners, 911 So. 2d at 515-16. ¶8. The FAA requires a two-step inquiry when scrutinizing an arbitration agreement. East Ford, 826 So. 2d at 713. First, we must determine if the parties intended to arbitrate the dispute; if so, we next consider “whether legal constraints external to the parties’ agreement foreclosed the arbitration of those claims.” Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler 3 Chrysler-Plymouth, 473 U.S. 614, 628 (1985); East Ford at 826 So. 2d at 713. “Under the second prong, applicable contract defenses available under state contract law such as fraud, duress, and unconscionability may be asserted to invalidate the arbitration agreement without offending the Federal Arbitration Act.” Id. at 713; see 9 U.S.C. § 2 (an “agreement in writing to submit to arbitration an existing controversy . . . shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract”).