Opinion ID: 1436064
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Whether Century and Lloyd's Agreed to Arbitrate Disputes Arising from the Retrocessional Agreements

Text: Having addressed these two preliminary issueswhether the presumption in favor of arbitration applies to the initial question whether the parties agreed to arbitrate (it probably does not), and whether in answering this question we apply the substantive requirement based on our caselaw that an agreement to arbitrate be express and unequivocal to be valid and enforceable (we cannot)we return to the initial question: whether Century and Lloyd's agreed to arbitrate certain disputes, for if they did not do so this case should not have been arbitrated. As we have stated, to determine whether the parties agreed to submit any disputes to arbitration, we apply ordinary state-law principles that govern the formation of contracts. First Options, 514 U.S. at 944, 115 S.Ct. at 1924; see also Perry, 482 U.S. at 492 n. 9, 107 S.Ct. at 2527 n. 9; Kirleis, 560 F.3d at 160.