Setting aside arbitration awards and the manifest disregard of the law standard.

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Setting aside arbitration awards and the manifest disregard of the law standard.

Parties who lose in arbitration proceedings and then move their disputes into the court system should take notice of a recent decision issued by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In B.L. Harbert International, LLC v. Hercules Steel Company, 441 F.3d 905 (11th Cir. 2006), the court reviewed the "manifest disregard of the law" standard and, in doing so, clarified the requirements that must be satisfied in order to establish that an arbitrator acted in manifest disregard of the law. To meet the exacting requirements of this standard, an arbitration loser must prove the arbitrator recognized a clear rule of law and deliberately chose to ignore it. The court's opinion affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama denying Harbert's motion to vacate. The court's holding sends a strong message about overuse of the post-arbitration review procedures and reminds litigants that proving an arbitrator acted in manifest disregard of the law will be the exception rather than the norm. Although the Harbert decision involved a construction dispute rather than an employment arbitration, the analysis app...

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