[author: Whitney Fore - Law Clerk]

The Fifth Circuit addressed the question of whether a subcontract between the parties requires arbitration, a question that turned on the interpretation of the term “contract documents” in the subcontract. TRC Environmental Corporation hired LVI Facilities Services, Inc. as a subcontractor in an effort to decommission a power plant in Austin, Texas. The Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court’s interpretation that (1) the phrase “Contract Documents” in the subcontract, includes the subcontract itself; and (2) claims arising under the Contract Documents requires an alternative dispute resolution process as laid out in the separate Project Agreement, which did not require arbitration. Based on this interpretation of the two documents, the Fifth Circuit held, the district court correctly denied LVI’s motion to compel arbitration. TRC Environmental Corp. v. LVI Facility Servs., Inc., No. 14-51269 (5th Cir. May 22, 2015).