The Uniform Arbitration Act and the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (RUAA) are the two model statutes that set the default rules for arbitration at the state level in the United States. The original 1955 act was adopted in 49 jurisdictions and became the backbone of state arbitration law; the 2000 revision modernized it to deal with heavier caseloads and more complex disputes. Together they govern how an arbitration agreement is enforced, how the hearing is run, what an arbitrator can order, and how the final award is confirmed or challenged. If your contract has an arbitration clause and doesn’t spell out its own procedures, one of these acts is almost certainly filling in the blanks.
How These Acts Fit With the Federal Arbitration Act
The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies to any written arbitration agreement in a contract touching interstate commerce, and the Supreme Court has read that reach broadly enough to cover most commercial activity.1GovInfo. 9 USC 2 – Validity, Irrevocability, and Enforcement of Agreements to Arbitrate When the FAA applies, states cannot impose rules that single out arbitration agreements for harsher treatment than other contracts or interfere with core features of the arbitration process.2Congress.gov. Federal Arbitration Act Preemption
The UAA and RUAA fill in what the FAA leaves open: disclosure obligations, discovery limits, remedies, confirmation procedure. As long as those state rules don’t conflict with the FAA’s command to enforce arbitration agreements, they operate alongside it. A generic choice-of-law clause selecting a state’s law is usually not enough to opt out of the FAA. To make state arbitration law control instead of (or in addition to) the FAA, the contract needs to say so clearly. Most written arbitration agreements end up running under the FAA’s enforceability framework and the procedural rules of whichever state act applies.
When an Arbitration Agreement Is Enforceable
Both acts treat a written agreement to arbitrate as valid, irrevocable, and enforceable. UAA Section 1 set that principle, and RUAA Section 6(a) carries the same language, mirroring FAA Section 2.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) Signing a contract with an arbitration clause generally locks you into arbitration for disputes the clause covers. Preferring court is not a way out.
The escape hatch is the ordinary set of contract defenses: fraud, duress, or unconscionability. Courts use a two-part unconscionability test, looking at how the agreement was formed (was it buried in fine print, with no chance to negotiate?) and at the fairness of the terms themselves (does it strip meaningful remedies or impose prohibitive costs?). If both are present, a court can refuse to enforce the clause. Most successful challenges to arbitration clauses land here, especially in consumer and employment contexts.
Separability: Attacking the Contract vs. Attacking the Clause
Both acts treat the arbitration clause as a standalone agreement, independent of the larger contract it sits inside. Under RUAA Section 6, a court decides whether the arbitration agreement itself exists, but the arbitrator decides whether the broader contract containing that agreement is enforceable.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) If you argue that the underlying deal was induced by fraud, that argument goes to the arbitrator. Only an attack aimed at the arbitration clause specifically keeps the dispute in court on the threshold question.
Compelling, Staying, and Emergency Relief
If the other side refuses to arbitrate despite a valid agreement, you can ask a court to compel arbitration under UAA Section 2 or RUAA Section 7. If the court finds a valid agreement that covers the dispute, it orders arbitration and stays any parallel lawsuit. The reverse is also available: if someone starts an arbitration without a valid agreement, or tries to arbitrate a claim outside the clause’s scope, the opposing party can move to stay the arbitration. Courts are the gatekeepers for both questions.
The RUAA added a framework the original act lacked for emergency relief while arbitration is pending. Under RUAA Section 8, before an arbitrator has been appointed, a court can grant provisional remedies like temporary restraining orders or asset freezes, applying the same standards it would in ordinary civil litigation.4Louisiana State Law Institute. Select Sections From the RUAA Once an arbitrator is on the case, that authority transfers; the arbitrator can issue interim awards to protect the proceedings. A party can still go to court for emergency relief after appointment, but only if the arbitrator cannot act quickly enough or cannot provide an adequate remedy. Asking a court for provisional relief does not waive the right to arbitrate.
Arbitrator Disclosure and Neutrality
The RUAA sharpened the transparency rules for arbitrators significantly. Section 12(a) requires anyone asked to serve as an arbitrator to make a reasonable inquiry and disclose any known facts that a reasonable person would consider likely to affect impartiality. That covers financial interests in the outcome and current or past relationships with the parties, their lawyers, witnesses, or other arbitrators.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000)
The duty is ongoing. Section 12(b) requires the arbitrator to keep disclosing new facts as they come up during the proceeding. The consequences for silence are real: under Section 12(e), if a neutral arbitrator fails to disclose a known, direct, and material interest in the outcome, or a known, substantial relationship with a party, a presumption of evident partiality arises, which is one of the statutory grounds for vacating the final award.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) When a party objects to a disclosed conflict and the parties have agreed to follow an arbitration organization’s challenge procedures, the party generally has to use that process before going to a court.
How the Hearing Works
Arbitrators have broad authority to run the hearing. RUAA Sections 15 through 17 let the arbitrator hold prehearing conferences, set deadlines for exchanging documents, administer oaths, rule on evidence, and issue subpoenas compelling third parties to attend or produce records.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) The overall standard is that the arbitrator may conduct the proceeding in whatever manner they consider appropriate for a fair and efficient resolution. If a witness ignores a subpoena or a party refuses to comply with a discovery order, the arbitrator can respond much as a court would in civil litigation, including drawing adverse inferences from the noncompliance.
Discovery Is Narrower Than in Court
Discovery in arbitration is deliberately limited. Under RUAA Section 17(c), an arbitrator may permit whatever discovery they deem appropriate in the circumstances, with the official commentary making clear the standard is meant to discourage the sprawling discovery that drives up litigation costs.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) The arbitrator weighs the parties’ needs against keeping the process fair, fast, and affordable.
Depositions are available when a witness cannot be subpoenaed or cannot attend the hearing, with the arbitrator setting the conditions. The arbitrator can also issue protective orders covering privileged, confidential, or trade-secret information, mirroring the protections available in court. If you are used to full litigation discovery, the narrower scope is usually the biggest adjustment: you may not get the extensive document requests or depositions you would expect in court, and the arbitrator has near-total discretion over where to draw the line.
What an Arbitrator Can Order
The RUAA gives arbitrators broad remedial authority. Under Section 21(c), an arbitrator can order any remedy they consider just and appropriate given the circumstances, and a remedy that a court could not or would not grant is not, by itself, grounds for refusing to confirm the award.5Uniform Law Commission. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act
Two categories have their own rules. An arbitrator can award punitive or exemplary damages, but only if such an award would be available in a court case involving the same claim and the hearing evidence justifies it under the applicable legal standards. When punitive damages are awarded, the arbitrator must state the amount separately and explain the factual and legal basis. An arbitrator can also award reasonable attorney fees and arbitration expenses if a court could do so for the same type of claim or if the parties’ agreement authorizes it.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000)
Confirming, Vacating, or Modifying the Award
An arbitration award does not automatically carry the force of a court judgment. To enforce it through tools like wage garnishment or asset seizure, a party has to ask a court to confirm it. Under RUAA Section 22, a court confirms the award unless a motion to vacate, modify, or correct is pending.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) Under the FAA, a party has one year from the date the award is made to apply for confirmation.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 9 USC 9 – Award of Arbitrators; Confirmation; Jurisdiction
Grounds for Vacating
Overturning an award is intentionally hard. RUAA Section 23 lists six narrow grounds:3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000)
- The award was procured by corruption, fraud, or undue means.
- The neutral arbitrator showed evident partiality, acted corruptly, or engaged in misconduct that prejudiced a party’s rights.
- The arbitrator refused to postpone a hearing on good cause shown, refused to consider material evidence, or otherwise conducted the hearing in a way that substantially prejudiced a party.
- The arbitrator exceeded the powers granted by the arbitration agreement.
- There was no valid agreement to arbitrate, and the objecting party raised the issue at the outset of the hearing.
- The arbitration was initiated without proper notice, substantially prejudicing a party.
What’s missing from the list is any ground for second-guessing the arbitrator’s reasoning. Disagreeing with the arbitrator’s reading of the law or weighing of the evidence will not get an award thrown out. That is the trade-off at the heart of arbitration: speed and finality in exchange for very limited review.
The 90-Day Clock
Under RUAA Section 23(b), a motion to vacate has to be filed within 90 days after the moving party receives notice of the award. If the challenge is based on corruption or fraud, the 90 days starts when the party discovers (or should have discovered through reasonable diligence) the grounds for the challenge.3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000) Miss the deadline and the award effectively becomes permanent. A surprising number of challenges fail here, not on the merits.
Modification Instead of Vacatur
Not every error requires throwing out the whole award. Under RUAA Section 24, filed within the same 90-day window, a court can modify or correct an award for three limited reasons:3New York Convention. Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (2000)
- An evident mathematical miscalculation, or a mistake in describing a person, thing, or property.
- A ruling on a claim that was never submitted, where the ruling can be separated without affecting the merits of what was submitted.
- A technical defect in the form of the award that does not affect the substantive decision.
A motion to modify can be filed alongside a motion to vacate. If modification is granted, the court confirms the award as corrected; if not, and no vacatur motion is pending, the court confirms the original award.
A Federal Boundary: Sexual Assault and Harassment Claims
Both acts treat arbitration agreements as broadly enforceable, but federal law carves out an exception that overrides them for certain disputes. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, signed in March 2022, invalidates predispute arbitration agreements and class-action waivers when the person alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment chooses to reject them.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 9 USC 401 – Definitions The law applies to disputes arising after its enactment, regardless of when the agreement was signed, and the threshold question of whether it applies to a particular dispute is decided by a court, not by the arbitrator. Other bills to extend similar carve-outs to additional categories of claims have been introduced in Congress but had not been enacted as of early 2025.