Wagner

The question presented by this appeal is whether an arbitration agreement signed by a partner when he opened his own individual account with a stockbroker binds his partnership or himself to arbitration of partnership claims against the stockbroker arising from a separate trading account opened in the partnership’s name. We hold that it does not, and we therefore affirm the district court’s refusal to stay this action pending arbitration.

BACKGROUND

In August 1993, Scott Serven opened a brokerage account with Stratton Oakmont, cated that the account was an “individual” account, and he listed his social security number as the tax identification number. As part of his account application, Serven signed a customer agreement that provided in relevant part:

(Emphasis added). Bear Stearns is Stratton Oakmont’s clearing broker. The agreement is made applicable to Stratton Oakmont by the following clause:

(Emphasis added). This agreement, which was signed in Serven’s own name, listed only the account opened by Serven in the space provided for account numbers.

Within one month, Serven had deposited approximately $412,000 in the account opened in his name. According to Serven this sum…