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Vicksburg Partners9/22/2005
ered on March 31, 2005, Stephens was given fourteen days to retain counsel; however, she failed to do so, and therefore, by order entered on April 19, 2005, this Court stated, inter alia, that we deemed Stephens to be proceeding pro se (representing herself), and we further gave her deadlines to submit her appellee's brief. This she failed to do, and we thus have before us only the brief of Vicksburg Partners. However, while we have no appellate brief before us on behalf of Stephens, her arguments are fully before us due to the briefs and pleadings submitted to the trial court by her trial attorneys. We note that while this case was pending in the trial court, Stephens's attorneys filed with that court, inter alia, a 16-page "Plaintiff's Response Opposing Defendants' Motions to Stay Proceedings and Enforce Dispute Resolution/Arbitration Clause," with attachments, and an 11-page "Supplement to Plaintiff's Response Opposing Defendants' Motions to Stay Proceedings and Enforce Dispute Resolution/Arbitration Clause," with attachments. Additionally, after Vicksburg Partners filed with us its Petition for Interlocutory Appeal by Permission and Request for Stay, Stephens, still represented by counsel, filed through her trial counsel, a 9-page Response to Petition for Interlocutory Appeal by Permission and Request for Stay. From these filings by Stephens's trial attorneys, we clearly have before us in the appellate record the issues and arguments as laid out by Stephens. Thus, while she has no appellate attorney of record, Stephens is hardly unrepresented on appeal regarding her arguments addressing the issues raised by Vicksburg Partners.
DISCUSSION
. This case involves the denial of a motion to enforce a dispute resolution/arbitration clause contained within a nursing home's standard admissions form. This Court applies a de novo standard of review to motions to dismiss and to denials of motions to compel. Sanderson Farms, Inc. v. Gatlin, 848 So.2d 828, 834 (Miss. 2003) (citing Poindexter v. Southern United Fire Ins. Co., 838 So.2d 964, 966-67 (Miss. 2003); East Ford, Inc. v. Taylor, 826 So.2d 709, 713 (Miss. 2002); Webb v. Investacorp, Inc., 89 F.3d 252, 256 (5th Cir. 1996)). "Whether the circuit court had proper jurisdiction to hear a particular matter is a question of law, and this Court must therefore apply a de novo standard of review to this issue." Entergy Miss., Inc. v. Burdette Gin Co., 726 So.2d 1202, 1205 (Miss. 1998) (citing Wright v. White, 693 So.2d 898, 900 (Miss. 1997)).
. This Court has recognized that arbitration is favored and firmly embedded in both our federal and state laws. Pass Termite & Pest Control, Inc. v. Walker, 904 So.2d 1030, 1032-33 (Miss. 2004) (citing Russell v. Performance Toyota, Inc., 826 So.2d 719 (Miss. 2002); East Ford, Inc. v. Taylor, 826 So.2d 709 (Miss. 2002); IP Timberlands Operating Co. v. Denmiss Corp., 726 So. 2d 96 (Miss. 1998)). Since our decision in IP Timberlands, we have explicitly recognized the applicability of arbitration for resolving disputes and have stated that we will respect the right of an individual or an entity to agree in advance of a dispute to arbitration or other alternative dispute resolution. 726 So. 2d at 104. We have thus endorsed the undisputed province of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. ยงยง 1-16 (FAA), and recognized its clear authority to govern agreements formed in interstate commerce wherein a contractual provision provides for alternative dispute resolution. Id. at 107. Consistent with federal law, our case law now clearly emphasizes the favored status of arbitration:
uestions of arbitrability must be addressed with a healthy regard for the federal policy favoring arbitration. The Arbitratio
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