Arbitration agreements in the USA

What are the validity requirements for an arbitration agreement?

The Federal Arbitration Act explicitly requires that the arbitration agreement be in writing and included as part of a valid contract (9 USC Section 2). However, so long as there is a written arbitration agreement (stemming from a commercial transaction), Section 2 further states that such agreement “shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract”. As the Federal Arbitration Act explicitly subjects arbitration agreements to ordinary contract rules, the rules regarding the validity of contract formation also apply.