This was my case, and I declined to accept the appointment. There was at that point no appearance by the respondent, and I do not believe AAA rules apply unless the parties have agreed that they do apply, so I did not see AAA rules as giving me any authority. And, the way the demand was drafted, there was no allegation that this respondent had in fact signed a contract, just that the claimant usually enters into a contract with its customers. There was no allegation of an agreement, just that claimant usually makes agreements with customers. So, I saw no basis for the arbitration to proceed and declined the case. I do not know why the ADR organization accepted the case in the first place, and I do not know why claimant would have wanted to proceed an open itself up to vacatur later -- in other words, if I had represented the claimant I would have started a lawsuit under the circumstances, rather than file for arbitration.
