Opinion ID: 4562545
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standard of review

Text: Ordinarily, “[w]e review a district court’s order confirming or vacating an arbitration award de novo[.]” Rain CII Carbon, LLC v. ConocoPhillips Co., 674 F.3d 469, 472 (5th Cir. 2012). Due to the “strong federal policy favoring arbitration, judicial review of an arbitration award is extraordinarily narrow.” Id. at 471–72 (citation omitted). However, “[b]ecause arbitration is simply a matter of contract between the parties, the strong federal policy favoring arbitration does not apply to the initial determination of whether there is a valid agreement to arbitrate,” which is “governed by ordinary state-law contract principles.” Klein v. Nabors Drilling USA L.P., 710 F.3d 234, 236 (5th Cir. 2013) (internal quotations and citations omitted). We will apply the federal policy favoring arbitration only after the existence of a valid agreement to arbitrate is found. See Klein, 710 at 236–37; see also Will-Drill Res., Inc. v. Samson Res. Co., 352 F.3d 211, 219 (5th Cir. 2003) (holding that when “a party attacks the very existence of an agreement . . . the courts must first resolve that dispute”).