State Regulation of Arbitration Proceedings: Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards by State Courts

The thesis of this Article can be stated simply and concisely: States possess the power to adopt standards for the conduct of arbitration proceedings and review of arbitration awards that are significantly different from federal law standards. The major objective of this Article is to explore the most important possibilities for reform of arbitration law and practice at the state level. State law standards will be of increasing importance in the reformation of arbitration practice. This Article focuses on the standards of review of arbitration awards employed by state courts, because the power to vacate an arbitration award is the sanction for defective arbitration proceedings.

Many of my examples are drawn from Texas, where I have been teaching contracts and arbitration for many years, and from the Fifth Circuit-about which I have written at length.