Federal Jurisdiction Limited When Confirming Or Setting Aside Domestic Arbitration Awards

Highlights

• Federal jurisdiction may not be available for petitions to confirm or vacate a domestic arbitration award when the only basis for jurisdiction is that the underlying dispute involves a federal question.
• The U.S. Supreme Court held that the "look through" approach is limited to petitions under Section 4 and refused extending it to petitions under Sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).

In a recent decision involving arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal courts do not have subject-matter jurisdiction to confirm or vacate a domestic arbitration award under Sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) when the only basis for jurisdiction is that the underlying dispute involves a federal question. In so doing, the court eschewed extending the "look through" provision of Section 4 of the FAA, which allows a court to look at the subject matter of the underlying dispute when determining whether it has jurisdiction