On December 20, 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in LodgeWorks, L.P. v. C.F. Jordan Construction, LLC, holding that arbitral venue is an issue for the arbitrator, not a court, to decide. LodgeWorks and Jordan entered into a contract for the construction of a hotel in Austin, Texas. The contract contained an arbitration clause stating that any disputes shall be decided by arbitration in Wichita, Kansas. When a dispute arose, LodgeWorks filed a demand with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and requested that the proceeding be held in Wichita, Kansas. Jordan filed its own demand with the AAA, seeking arbitration in Texas. LodgeWorks then filed the underlying action for an injunction to prevent Jordan from arbitrating in a forum other than Wichita. The district court granted LodgeWork's injunction, and Jordan appealed.

Neither party disputed the validity of the arbitration clause. Rather, the question presented was whether venue selection should be decided by the arbitrator or a court. Citing US Supreme Court cases, the Circuit Court explained that once an arbitration provision has been resolved in favor of arbitration, the arbitrator decides the validity of the remainder of the contract. Therefore, procedural questions that grow out of the dispute, such as venue, are for the arbitrator to decide, not a court. The Tenth Circuit vacated the district court's injunction and left the matter of venue to be decided by the arbitrator.