The New Jersey Supreme Court granted a petition for certification in Passaic County v. Horizon Healthcare Services, an Appellate Division decision which held the requirement imposed by the state Supreme Court in Atalese v. U.S. Legal Services Group—that an enforceable arbitration provision must contain an express waiver of the right to seek relief in a court of law—was not intended to apply to sophisticated commercial litigants with comparatively equal bargaining power.

Passaic County contracted with Horizon Healthcare Services to manage a self-funded benefit plan from 2002 through the end of 2019, according to the Appellate Division opinion. In 2021, the county filed an action and claimed that Horizon breached its contract by failing to implement certain modified reimbursement rates, among other claims.