A seller included language in a contract to the effect that, “ANY CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM ARISING OUT OF THIS CONTRACT MAY BE SETTLED IN BINDING ARBITRATION…”
Then later “sales confirmations” from a broker include a boiler-plate provision that, “Any controversy or claim arising out of this contract shall be settled by arbitration by the Association of Food Industries in New York…”
No doubt there are other jurisdictions, so enamored with arbitration as to let such tentative language (and/or inconsistent language) divest a litigant from his “day in court” but the Hennepin County District Court (Zimmerman, J.) and the Minnesota Court of Appeals require more forceful and definitive arbitration clauses.