Vacating an Arbitration Award

Why an arbitrator's award is so hard to overturn, the narrow grounds on which a court can vacate or modify one, the short deadline to ask, and how a winning party turns an award into a court judgment.

Looking for a lawyer rather than a definition? Skip to the state-by-state list of Arbitration law firms.

What it means

An arbitration award is not like a trial court judgment that can be appealed for legal or factual error. Under the Federal Arbitration Act and the state arbitration statutes, courts review awards only on narrow grounds, and the Supreme Court has held that parties cannot expand those grounds by contract. If an arbitrator was even arguably interpreting the parties' contract, a court must enforce the award even if it is convinced the arbitrator got the contract badly wrong.

The federal grounds to vacate an award are that it was procured by corruption, fraud or undue means; that an arbitrator showed evident partiality or corruption; that the arbitrators were guilty of misconduct, such as refusing to postpone a hearing for good cause or refusing to hear evidence pertinent and material to the controversy, that prejudiced a party; or that the arbitrators exceeded their powers or so imperfectly executed them that no final and definite award was made. A court can modify or correct an award for an evident miscalculation or a mistake in describing a person or property, or where the arbitrators decided a matter not submitted to them. Some courts also recognize "manifest disregard of the law" as a ground or as a gloss on the statutory ones, and the circuits disagree about whether it survives.

Timing is strict: a motion to vacate, modify or correct under the federal statute must be served within a short period after the award is filed or delivered, and a party that misses it generally cannot raise those objections later. The winning party asks a court to confirm the award, which turns it into a judgment that can be enforced like any other (see collecting a judgment). Whether a federal court can hear the motion depends on an independent basis for federal jurisdiction, so many such motions are filed in state court. See also mediation and arbitration and mandatory arbitration clauses.

Where this comes from

When people hire a lawyer for this

If you lost an arbitration and believe something went seriously wrong, talk to a lawyer who handles arbitration and appeals right away; the deadline is short and the grounds are technical, and many awards that feel unfair cannot be challenged at all. If you won, a lawyer can move to confirm the award and begin enforcing it. Either way, bring the arbitration agreement, the award and the hearing record.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

Find Arbitration law firms in your state

Choose your state to see Arbitration law firms in the city where we list the most; your city may be under “other cities”, A to Z. A state marked “Lawsuits & Disputes” has no Arbitration listing yet and opens the broader page.

• Alabama (Birmingham)
  +1 other city

  • Montgomery
• Alaska (Anchorage)
• Arizona (Chandler)
  +6 other cities

  • Gilbert
  • Glendale
  • Mesa
  • Phoenix
  • Scottsdale
  • Tucson
• Arkansas (Little Rock)
• California (Anaheim)
  +19 other cities

  • Bakersfield
  • Fontana
  • Fremont
  • Fresno
  • Irvine
  • Modesto
  • Oxnard
  • Riverside
  • Sacramento
  • San Bernardino
  • Santa Ana
  • Stockton
  • and 7 more with fewer listed firms
• Colorado (Aurora)
  +2 other cities

  • Colorado Springs
  • Denver
• Connecticut (Bridgeport)
• Delaware (Wilmington, Lawsuits & Disputes)
• District of Columbia (Washington)
• Florida (Jacksonville)
  +5 other cities

  • Hialeah
  • Miami
  • Orlando
  • St Petersburg
  • Tampa
• Georgia (Atlanta)
• Hawaii (Honolulu)
• Idaho (Boise)
• Illinois (Chicago)
• Indiana (Fort Wayne)
  +1 other city

  • Indianapolis
• Iowa (Des Moines)
• Kansas (Wichita)
• Kentucky (Lexington)
  +1 other city

  • Louisville
• Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
  +2 other cities

  • New Orleans
  • Shreveport
• Maine (Portland)
• Maryland (Baltimore)
• Massachusetts (Boston)
• Michigan (Detroit)
• Minnesota (Minneapolis)
  +1 other city

  • Saint Paul
• Mississippi (Jackson)
• Missouri (Kansas City)
  +1 other city

  • St. Louis
• Montana (Billings)
• Nebraska (Lincoln)
  +1 other city

  • Omaha
• Nevada (Henderson)
  +3 other cities

  • Las Vegas
  • North Las Vegas
  • Reno
• New Hampshire (Manchester)
• New Jersey (Newark)
  +1 other city

  • Jersey City
• New Mexico (Albuquerque)
• New York (Buffalo)
  +2 other cities

  • New York City
  • Rochester
• North Carolina (Charlotte)
  +5 other cities

  • Durham
  • Fayetteville
  • Greensboro
  • Raleigh
  • Winston-Salem
• North Dakota (Fargo)
• Ohio (Cincinnati)
  +3 other cities

  • Cleveland
  • Columbus
  • Toledo
• Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
  +1 other city

  • Tulsa
• Oregon (Portland)
• Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
  +1 other city

  • Pittsburgh
• Rhode Island (Providence)
• South Carolina (Columbia)
• South Dakota (Sioux Falls, Lawsuits & Disputes)
• Tennessee (Nashville)
  +1 other city

  • Memphis
• Texas (Corpus Christi)
  +11 other cities

  • Arlington
  • Austin
  • Dallas
  • Fort Worth
  • Garland
  • Houston
  • Irving
  • Laredo
  • Lubbock
  • Plano
  • San Antonio
• Utah (Salt Lake City)
• Vermont (Burlington)
• Virginia (Chesapeake)
  +3 other cities

  • Norfolk
  • Richmond
  • Virginia Beach
• Washington (Seattle)
  +1 other city

  • Tacoma
• West Virginia (Charleston)
• Wisconsin (Madison)
  +1 other city

  • Milwaukee
• Wyoming (Cheyenne)

Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

• AppealThe review of a trial court's decision by a higher court - what can be appealed and when (the final-judgment rule and its exceptions), the notice of appeal and why missing it is fatal, what "standard of review" means and why most appeals are lost on it, preserving error at trial, the record and briefs, and what an appellate court can and cannot do with the result.
• Attorney-Client Privilege and Work ProductThe two protections that keep what a client tells a lawyer, and what a lawyer prepares for a case, from being forced into evidence - what the privilege covers and what it does not, who holds it and how it is waived, the crime-fraud exception, the separate and narrower work-product doctrine, and how each is asserted in discovery.
• Burden of Proof (Standards of Proof)Who has to prove what, and how convincingly, before a court will rule for them - the difference between the burden of production and the burden of persuasion, the three standards (preponderance of the evidence, clear and convincing evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt) and where each applies, presumptions that shift the burden, and why the burden decides cases where the evidence is in balance.
• Complaint and Answer (Pleadings)The documents that start a civil case and frame what it is about - what a complaint must contain, how a defendant answers it, what an admission, denial and affirmative defense each do, counterclaims and cross-claims, and what happens when a pleading is late, deficient or needs to be amended.
• Contempt of CourtThe court's power to punish disobedience of its own orders - the mechanism that makes a court order more than a piece of paper.
• Court Fee Waiver (In Forma Pauperis)How a person who cannot afford court filing fees asks the court to excuse them - the federal and state procedures, who usually qualifies, and what a waiver does not cover.
• Default JudgmentA judgment entered because the person sued did not respond in time - the way most consumer debt lawsuits actually end.
• Demand LetterThe letter that states a claim and asks for payment or action before a lawsuit: when one is legally required, what it should say, how settlement communications are protected, and what not to put in it.
• DepositionSworn, recorded, out-of-court questioning of a witness by the opposing lawyer, before any trial.
• DiscoveryThe pre-trial process in which each side must hand over relevant evidence to the other.
• Expert Witness (Daubert and Frye)A witness allowed to give opinions rather than only facts because of specialized knowledge - who qualifies, the gatekeeping test a judge applies to the reliability of the method (Daubert in federal court and most states, Frye in the rest), the written report and deposition that precede trial, the difference between a retained expert and a treating professional, and why a case can be lost when its expert is excluded.
• Fee Agreement and RetainerThe engagement letter that sets what a lawyer will do and how they are paid - hourly, flat or contingent fees, retainers held in trust, costs, and what to do about a fee dispute.
• Force Majeure ClauseThe contract clause that excuses or suspends performance when events beyond a party's control prevent it, how courts read it narrowly, and the impossibility and frustration doctrines that apply when there is no clause.
• Injunction and Temporary Restraining OrderThe court orders that require a party to do or stop doing something rather than pay money - the three stages (temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, permanent injunction), the four-factor test for emergency relief, the bond the applicant must post, how an order is enforced through contempt, and why a violated order is obeyed first and challenged second.
• Jurisdiction and VenueThe three questions every lawsuit has to answer before its merits can be heard - whether the court has power over this kind of case (subject-matter jurisdiction), power over this defendant (personal jurisdiction), and whether this is the right place within the system to bring it (venue) - what each requires, how each is challenged, and why a judgment entered without jurisdiction is void.
• Limited-Scope Representation (Unbundled Legal Services)Hiring a lawyer for one defined part of a legal matter - advice, drafting a document, or a single hearing - instead of the whole case, and the written agreement that sets the boundary.
• Mediation and ArbitrationTwo ways of resolving a dispute outside a trial that are constantly confused - one produces an agreement you can walk away from, the other a decision you generally cannot appeal.
• Motion to DismissA request to end a case at the outset on the basis that, even if everything alleged is true, it does not amount to a legal claim.
• Pro Bono Legal HelpFree legal work by volunteer lawyers - what the professional rules ask of lawyers, how people of limited means are matched with a volunteer, and why it is not the same as legal aid.
• Release and Settlement AgreementThe document that ends a claim by giving up the right to bring it - normally final, and normally broader than people expect.
• Representing Yourself (Pro Se)The right to conduct your own case without a lawyer - available in almost every civil court, and held to almost the same standards as a lawyer.
• Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel (Preclusion)The rules that stop a dispute from being litigated twice - claim preclusion, which bars a second suit on a claim that was or could have been decided, and issue preclusion, which bars re-arguing a specific issue actually decided, the elements of each, who is bound, the exceptions, and why "could have been raised" is the part that surprises people.
• Service of ProcessThe formal delivery of court papers that gives a court power over the person sued - and the step whose failure undoes more judgments than any other.
• Small Claims CourtA simplified court for lower-value disputes, designed to be used without a lawyer - and in some states lawyers are not allowed in it at all.
• Statute of FraudsThe rule that certain contracts - for land, for goods above a threshold, for guarantees and for agreements that cannot be completed within a year - must be evidenced by a signed writing, and the exceptions that let an oral deal be enforced anyway.
• Statute of LimitationsA deadline, set by statute, after which a legal claim can no longer be brought at all.
• SubpoenaA court-backed order to give evidence or hand over documents - enforceable against people who are not parties to the case at all.
• Summary JudgmentA ruling that decides a case, or part of one, without a trial because the essential facts are not genuinely in dispute.

« All glossary terms