Collecting Arbitration Awards: Substantive and Procedural Aspects of Enforcement and Monetization

Description

The ultimate objective of a party seeking damages in an arbitration is usually to get paid. Thus, prevailing in an arbitration proceeding is only one step for counsel in achieving that objective because, as FINRA reports, the rate of unpaid awards is in the range of 30%. Wise counsel can be helping their clients if they draft arbitration clauses with enforcement in mind. There are also steps that can be taken after the dispute arises but before there is an award.

And, of course, there are important steps that must be taken in court to confirm and enforce an arbitration award. There can be many traps for the unwary. Those steps are subject to either federal or various state laws. A confirmation proceeding begins with a petition filed within a defined period after the arbitration award is issued. Jurisdiction and venue may differ from standard civil proceedings.

Even a procedurally proper filing may not result in confirmation. Though a court is limited in the scope of its review of the arbitrator's award, an award can be vacated, modified, corrected, or even remanded to the arbitrator under certain circumstances. Some of these circumstances concern corruption and fraud; others involve the power of the arbitrator; others concern simple matters such as facial miscalculations.

Listen as this panel of arbitration and litigation veterans details the relevant procedural and substantive principles and relates those principles to "real world" examples.