Comments on: Manifest Disregard is Dead – Long Live § 10(a)(4) FAA?

By: Michael Curran

Michael Curran — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:57:39 +0000

I have a Third Circuit appeal where the arbitrator was supposed to apply the law of Maryland as set forth in a franchise agreement (Choice Hotels Int’l,Inc.), but failed to apply the 3 year statute of limitations to commence an action or arbitration. The arbitrator recognized the applicability of the jurisdictional question, but avoided applying the law, calling it a “question for another day.” The arbitrator was, in fact, a Maryland judge, and head of the ADR section of a law firm just down the road from Choice Hotels Int’l, Inc. whose firm served as counsel to another hotel chain where the CEO of choice was on the Board. Initially, the District Court found for the appellant but after a telephone conference with counsel for Choice to which appellant was not invited, Choice filed a motion for reconsideration, the Court reversed itself and confirmed the award, entering judgment.

Is there anything to be done with manifest disregard using both 3rd and 4th Circuits?

By: Theresa Hajost

Theresa Hajost — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:22:24 +0000

Great post! As posted elsewhere on this blog, the Supreme Court has granted cert in the Stolt case. From a review of the cert petition/opposition, it appears the focus will be on the class arbitration issue. But we can still hope for a few remarks on manifest disregard, due to the split in the circuits post-Hall Street. We’ll be following this closely. For those following the application of Hall Street by the lower courts, I’ve attached two links to recent articles I’ve written on this with a colleague. Links: http://www.halloran-sage.com/Knowledge/articleDetail.aspx?storyid=4775

http://www.halloran-sage.com/Knowledge/articleDetail.aspx?storyid=4850

By: Jan Kleinheisterkamp

Jan Kleinheisterkamp — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:08:52 +0000

P.S.: For a compact summary of the “manifest disregard” doctrine see Samuels/Kleinheisterkamp, “U.S. Report on Commercial Arbitration: The Impact of Uniform Law on National Law”, in: H. Grigera Naon (general editor), Commercial Arbitration: The Impact of Uniform Law on National Law – Limits and Possibilities, General Report for the 1st Intermediate Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, Mexico 2008 (forthcoming 2009), pp. 28-31 (available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1394223)