Jody James Farms, Jv v. the Altman Group, Inc. and Laurie Diaz

*629 Arbitration is a creature of contract between consenting parties. Nevertheless, as may be required by principles of contract law and agency, 2 a person who has agreed to arbitrate disputes with one party may be required to arbitrate related disputes with non-parties. 3 This, however, is not one of those cases.

Determining whether a claim involving a non-signatory must be arbitrated is a gateway matter for the trial court, not the arbitrator, which means the determination is reviewed de novo rather than with the deference that must be accorded to arbitrators. Applying the appropriate standard…