Regulation of Arbitration Law in the United States

Abstract

This chapter surveys the main limitations placed upon private arbitration processes by the FAA and various state statutes in contemporary American arbitration law. These limits focus on three aspects of the arbitration process. First, arbitration law imposes various requirements on the formation of arbitration agreements. The chapter then explains how a different set of limitations is needed to govern religious arbitration, including the remedies that a religious court can impose, proposing that with only a few exceptions in the area of child custody, religious arbitration should be limited to resolving matters through financial awards. Secular society must hold tightly onto the keys of coercive governmental authority, and even given contractual permission, religious arbitration should be allowed no significant force. Second, great thought needs to be put into the question of what areas of law are outside the scope of arbitration, as we do not wish to have multiple standards.