Hall Street Blues: The Uncertain Future of Manifest Disregard

摘要

For more than 55 years, courts have reviewed arbitration awards governed by the FAA for arbitrators' "manifest disregard of the law." That narrow doctrine emerged as one extremely limited - but wise -check on the far-reaching powers of arbitrators to resolve disputes equitably, privately, quickly and at relatively low cost. According to three out of four Courts of Appeals that thus far have squarely considered the question, Hall Street did not eliminate that doctrine from FAA jurisprudence. Unclear dicta in Hall Street should not collide with strong public policy reasons to allow for a narrow exception, and a statutorily-supported ground to impose accountability on arbitrators.