Client Alert

Manifest Disregard Standard of Judicial Review of Arbitral Awards: No Longer Good Law?

August 21, 2008

James E. Berger and Victoria Ashworth

On July 7, 2008, Judge Richard J. Holwell of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in Robert T. Rosen Associates, Ltd. v. Webb , that must be viewed as the first step in the federal courts reconsideration of the acceptable scope of judicial review of arbitral awards, in the wake of the Supreme Courts recent ruling in Hall Street Assoc., L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc.   In the March 2008 Hall Street decision, the Supreme Court held that the grounds set forth in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) are the exclusive grounds upon which an arbitral award may be vacated or modified.
Click here for a PDF of the full text