Menu
Arbitration Award
Advising Clients of Arbitration Awards and Vacatur of an Award
June 11, 2014
A significant dispute has arisen in connection with your client’s work on a construction project and, pursuant to the contract documents, the dispute has proceeded to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Several days into the arbitration hearing, your client surmises that the arbitration is not going well and there is a high probability of an adverse award. Your client turns to you and says, “This arbitration panel is misinterpreting the facts and not applying the law; we can always...
June 11, 2014
A significant dispute has arisen in connection with your client’s work on a construction project and, pursuant to the contract documents, the dispute has proceeded to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Several days into the arbitration hearing, your client surmises that the arbitration is not going well and there is a high probability of an adverse award. Your client turns to you and says, “This arbitration panel is misinterpreting the facts and not applying the law; we can always...
Another Arbitrator Disclosure Cert Petition to be Considered by SCOTUS Today
May 9, 2014
At this Friday’s conference, the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will consider another certiorari petition raising the proper standard for vacating an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act on grounds of “evident partiality.” The “Issues Presented” in Stone v. Bear, Stearns & Co (Docket No. 13-959), as set out by the petitioner, are as follows: (1) Whether an arbitrator’s failure to disclose facts creating a reasonable impression of partiality warrants vacating...
May 9, 2014
At this Friday’s conference, the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will consider another certiorari petition raising the proper standard for vacating an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act on grounds of “evident partiality.” The “Issues Presented” in Stone v. Bear, Stearns & Co (Docket No. 13-959), as set out by the petitioner, are as follows: (1) Whether an arbitrator’s failure to disclose facts creating a reasonable impression of partiality warrants vacating...
Deference to Arbitrators Is All The Rage Among Supreme Courts This Winter
May 6, 2014
You may have already heard that SCOTUS affirmed arbitrators’ authority to interpret contractual prerequisites to arbitration last week in BG Group, PLC v. Republic of Argentina. But that is just one of a number of recent decisions from high courts on the deference due arbitrators. In the BG Group case, the D.C. Circuit had vacated an arbitration award, finding the arbitration panel overstepped its authority by hearing the case before certain conditions precedent had been met. (My preview...
May 6, 2014
You may have already heard that SCOTUS affirmed arbitrators’ authority to interpret contractual prerequisites to arbitration last week in BG Group, PLC v. Republic of Argentina. But that is just one of a number of recent decisions from high courts on the deference due arbitrators. In the BG Group case, the D.C. Circuit had vacated an arbitration award, finding the arbitration panel overstepped its authority by hearing the case before certain conditions precedent had been met. (My preview...
Fifth Court Tosses Suit Against Lawyers, Arbitrator
May 2, 2014
In 2011, Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals vacated a $22 million arbitration award after finding that an arbitrator failed to disclose...
May 2, 2014
In 2011, Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals vacated a $22 million arbitration award after finding that an arbitrator failed to disclose...
Arbitration Round-Up
February 14, 2014
Scope of Arbitration Citigroup, Inc. v. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Case No. 1:13-cv-06073 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2013)...
February 14, 2014
Scope of Arbitration Citigroup, Inc. v. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Case No. 1:13-cv-06073 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Nov. 25, 2013)...
What A-Rod Can Teach About A-rbitration
January 20, 2014
Arbitration is in the news. Not just a buried paragraph in the business section, but the front page. (A three-arbitrator panel issued a 34-page arbitration award finding Major League Baseball was justified in suspending baseball player Alex Rodriguez for 162 games, which A-Rod is now trying to vacate.) My own hope is that this high-profile arbitration becomes a tool for teaching the public about arbitration. Indeed, A-Rod’s experience to date offers pointers for everyone from the arbitration...
January 20, 2014
Arbitration is in the news. Not just a buried paragraph in the business section, but the front page. (A three-arbitrator panel issued a 34-page arbitration award finding Major League Baseball was justified in suspending baseball player Alex Rodriguez for 162 games, which A-Rod is now trying to vacate.) My own hope is that this high-profile arbitration becomes a tool for teaching the public about arbitration. Indeed, A-Rod’s experience to date offers pointers for everyone from the arbitration...
Ninth Circuit Says Arbitration Agreements Cannot Restrict Grounds for Vacating Award
January 6, 2014
In the Hall Street decision in 2008, SCOTUS held that parties could not contractuallyenlarge Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act by agreeing that a court could vacate the arbitration award for reasons not found in that section. This week, the Ninth Circuit held that parties also cannot contractually restrict Section 10 by providing for “binding, non-appealable arbitration.” In re Wal-Mart Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litig., __ F.3d __, 2013 WL 6605350 (9th Cir. Dec....
January 6, 2014
In the Hall Street decision in 2008, SCOTUS held that parties could not contractuallyenlarge Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act by agreeing that a court could vacate the arbitration award for reasons not found in that section. This week, the Ninth Circuit held that parties also cannot contractually restrict Section 10 by providing for “binding, non-appealable arbitration.” In re Wal-Mart Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litig., __ F.3d __, 2013 WL 6605350 (9th Cir. Dec....
Enforcing Arbitral Awards That Have Previously Been Annulled
December 3, 2013
In their International Litigation column, Lawrence W. Newman and David Zaslowsky of Baker & McKenzie write: If an arbitration award is annulled in the courts of the country where the arbitration took place, can it nevertheless be enforced by the courts of another country? A recent decision in the Southern District of New York addressed and answered that very question.
December 3, 2013
In their International Litigation column, Lawrence W. Newman and David Zaslowsky of Baker & McKenzie write: If an arbitration award is annulled in the courts of the country where the arbitration took place, can it nevertheless be enforced by the courts of another country? A recent decision in the Southern District of New York addressed and answered that very question.
“Manifest Disregard of the Law” is Alive and Well and Vacating Arbitrations in Fourth Circuit
November 21, 2013
The Federal Arbitration Act sets forth only four bases for vacating arbitration awards. See 9 U.S.C. § 10 (a). After SCOTUS’s 2008 decision in Hall Street, at least half of the circuit courts have concluded that those four bases are exclusive, de-legitimizing the creative bases that judges had developed over the years. However, a recent Fourth Circuit opinion vacated an arbitration award for ”manifest disregard of the law,” a judicially-created basis for vacating arbitration...
November 21, 2013
The Federal Arbitration Act sets forth only four bases for vacating arbitration awards. See 9 U.S.C. § 10 (a). After SCOTUS’s 2008 decision in Hall Street, at least half of the circuit courts have concluded that those four bases are exclusive, de-legitimizing the creative bases that judges had developed over the years. However, a recent Fourth Circuit opinion vacated an arbitration award for ”manifest disregard of the law,” a judicially-created basis for vacating arbitration...
Manifest Disregard
November 18, 2013
Thanks to Jon Harkavy for sending us the unpublished Fourth Circuit case of Dewan v. Walia. It's one of the extraordinarily rare cases in which a court has overturned an arbitration award for manifest disregard of the law. * * * Objectively viewed, the language of the Release could not be more expansive, clear, or unambiguous. The plain language of the Release fatally undermines the suggestion that Walia retained the right to bring any of his counterclaims in arbitration. The Release waived...
November 18, 2013
Thanks to Jon Harkavy for sending us the unpublished Fourth Circuit case of Dewan v. Walia. It's one of the extraordinarily rare cases in which a court has overturned an arbitration award for manifest disregard of the law. * * * Objectively viewed, the language of the Release could not be more expansive, clear, or unambiguous. The plain language of the Release fatally undermines the suggestion that Walia retained the right to bring any of his counterclaims in arbitration. The Release waived...
