Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Finality, Functus Officio, United States

(Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich)/ /1 Comment

The Arbitration Committee of the New York City Bar Association has recently published a report titled: “The Functus Officio Problem in Modern Arbitration and a Proposed Solution” (the “Report”). In United States arbitration, the functus officio doctrine instructs that once an arbitrator finishes performance of her office, i.e., renders an award, her authority as an…

Domestic arbitration, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States

(Penn State Law)/ /Leave a comment

The progression of arbitration law in the American legal system has been steadfast. Despite a few uneasy rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS” or “the Court”) has provided resolute support for arbitration and proclaimed the legitimacy of its enhanced adjudicatory role. The few rulings that strayed from the contemporary judicial evaluation of arbitration1)Wilko v. Swan,…

Appeal, Arbitration, Awards, Challenge of Arbitral Award, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Manifest disregard, Manifest Disregard Doctrine, Manifest disregard of the law, New York, United States

, (Reed Smith)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction In domestic award enforcement proceedings, the U.S. federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) in New York recently reversed a lower federal trial court’s decision to vacate that award on grounds that the arbitrator manifestly disregarded the law.  See Weiss v. Sallie Mae, Inc., Dkt. No. 18-2362, Slip Op. (2d Cir….

Canada, Class arbitration, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), North America, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP) and / /Leave a comment

Introduction The United States and its neighbor to the north, Canada, share the world’s longest border, a common language, and similar values, resulting in one of the most stable and mutually beneficial international business relationships in the world. Indeed the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, and Canada is the United States’ second largest…

2018 In Review, Enforcement, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), New York, New York Convention, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, SCOTUS, technology industry, U.S. Supreme Court, United States, USA, USMCA

(Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

As we head into the new year, it is worth reflecting on major international arbitration-related developments in the United States during 2018 and their coverage on the blog.   Early in the year, our authors homed in on the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), which embodies U.S. arbitration law, including the New York Convention.  As…

Domestic Courts, Domestic law, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States

(Durham Law School)/ /Leave a comment

The central point of this note is that the U.S. law of arbitration is not clear from the text of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The FAA is archaic and in need of updating. The FAA is the oldest – but still functioning – arbitration statute in the world. Case law has rewritten much of…

Arbitrability, Arbitration clause, Consent, Domestic arbitration, Domestic Courts, Domestic law, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States

, (Mayer Brown) and (Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Businesses that are party to an arbitration agreement governed by Nevada law should understand that a little-known Nevada statute renders these agreements unenforceable if a contract lacks so-called “specific authorization” indicating that a person affirmatively assented to the arbitration provision itself. While the Nevada Supreme Court has applied this rule to invalidate arbitration agreements, a…

Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), New York Convention

, (BatesCareyLLP)/ /Leave a comment

The 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) is a lynchpin of the international arbitration system.  The New York Convention provides a means for parties in one member state to enforce judgments issued by arbitration tribunals in another member state.  In the United States, Congress…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), National Arbitration Laws, United States

(DLA Piper)/ /1 Comment
YIAG

As leading jurisdictions around the world continue to establish national courts dedicated to the oversight of international arbitration issues, one wonders whether this is an idea whose time has come. This issue was previously discussed on this blog in September 2010. Much progress has been made in the intervening years. The most recent jurisdiction to…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitrators, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Uncategorized, United States

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

The U.S. Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) provides that a federal district court may vacate an arbitration award, among other reasons, “where there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators.” 9 U.S.C. §10(a). However, as illustrated by a recently decided case in the Southern District of New York, U.S. district courts apply different standards of…

Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), National Arbitration Laws

(SMU Dedman School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

I was asked the other day whether I would recommend that the United States not only ratify the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea—known as the “Rotterdam Rules”—but also adopt optional chapters 14 and 15 on the jurisdiction of courts and arbitration.1)As of June 2012 twenty-four…

Enforcement, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Jurisdiction, New York Convention, North America

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The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently issued a decision that has some interesting implications for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the U.S. against foreign state agencies or state-owned companies. American readers, get ready for a review of Civil Procedure 101 on personal jurisdiction! The United States…

Class arbitration, Consumer contracts, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T v. Concepcion last April appeared to signal the demise of class arbitration in the United States. That decision upheld a consumer contract arbitration agreement that waived the consumer’s right to initiate a class action lawsuit or arbitration. In its recent D.R. Horton v. Cuda decision (Case 12-CA-25764),…

Arbitration Awards, draft Restatement, Enforcement, European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration 1961 (ECICA), Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), forum non conveniens, Inter-American Conventions, New York Convention

(Wayne State University)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

On December 14, the Second Circuit rendered its decision in Figueiredo Ferraz e Engenharia de Projecto Ltda. v. Republic of Peru, 2001 WL 6188497 (2d Cir. Dec. 14, 2011), which represents a significant development in the court’s jurisprudence on forum non conveniens dismissals of actions to enforce foreign arbitral awards. As explained below, the decision…

Arbitration, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), North America, Supreme Court, United States

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

In February 2011, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Stok & Associates, P.A., v. Citibank, N.A, (No. 10-514). The question presented was whether, under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), a party should be “required to demonstrate prejudice after the opposing party waived its contractual right to arbitrate by participating in litigation, in order…

Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States

(Conway & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Many leading jurisdictions in international arbitration have adopted all or part of the UN Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (“Model Law”). The question that remains is: Why Hasn’t the United States? The Federal Arbitration Act does provide many similarities to the Model Law. They both address enforcement of an arbitral award, grounds for setting…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Proceedings, Domestic Courts, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Manifest disregard of the law

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White & Case

On April 27, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp., No. 08-1198, 559 U.S. ___ (2010). The Court reversed a Second Circuit ruling permitting arbitrators to impose class arbitration upon four shipping companies—including White & Case client Stolt-Nielsen S.A.—under those shipping companies’ shipping contracts…

Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Manifest disregard of the law, North America, Set aside an arbitral award

(Pepperdine University School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Even casual observers of American arbitration law will have encountered the “manifest disregard of the law” doctrine. It has been invoked for decades by litigants seeking to set aside (vacate) an award under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The doctrine is just one example of why the regime affecting commercial arbitration in the United States…