Dive summary:

• When a court had to handle an appeal of an arbitration panel's award of $56 million to a joint venture led by Perini Construction for claims that arose from delays on the huge "Big Dig" project in downtown Boston, the critical issue was whether the contractors and the state had agreed on arbitration to determine who would decide if a claim went to arbitration or court.
• The appeals court said that there has to be "clear and unambiguous language to show what the parties to a contract agreed to, including whether an arbitration panel or a court should decide if a claim for damages belongs in arbitration or the court."
• The arbitrariness of claims needs to to be carefully laid out to prevent situations like this.

From the article:

Unlike deciding whether a particular merits-based dispute is "arbitrable," a party’s silence or ambiguity does not create a presumption in favor of arbitration. ...