Balfour

This litigation involves two arbitration issues not before decided in Washington. First, may a court order consolidated multi-party arbitration, in a location other than that to which the parties have agreed, in contravention of the terms of the parties contractual provisions? Second, may a court order discovery proceedings on the merits of the controversies after finding that the parties are bound by arbitration clauses in their respective contracts? We answer both questions in the negative and reverse.