In such review, counsel should take particular care to study any arbitration clauses contained in these documents.
Opportunities abound for unwitting parties to be harmed by seemingly innocuous arbitration clauses.
Although the Court of Appeals, over fifteen years ago, held that arbitrators are almost unlimited in their powers, many contracts still ignore that reality, and leave dispute resolution up to chance. In order to enforce an arbitration award, a party may file an application for confirmation by the court, which has the same effect as an entry of judgment. This provision of the CPLR permits, but does not require, that a party have the award confirmed, because in the absence of confirmation the award is still binding on the parties. The court may also vacate or modify an award if it receives an application from a party. The grounds for vacating an award include misconduct, partiality and imperfect execution by the arbitrator.