Waiving the Right To Challenge an Arbitration Award: A Comparative Approach

Lawrence W. Newman and David Zaslowsky

September 22, 2021

A comparative approach on the issue of whether courts enforce the very common contractual provision that purports to waive challenges to arbitration awards.

 

We have all seen them. Provisions in arbitration clauses that say, in substance, that the award is final and cannot be challenged or appealed.

Will courts enforce such a clause? The answer in federal courts in the United States is "somewhat." In this column, we look at U.S. case law on the subject, as well as how courts deal with it in certain other countries.