Opinion ID: 3064630
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: [1] The FAA provides a means of judicial enforcement where a controversy has been arbitrated pursuant to a valid arbitration provision and the arbitrator has made an award. See 9 U.S.C. §§ 9, 10. However, the FAA does not itself confer jurisdiction on federal district courts over actions to compel arbitration or to confirm or vacate arbitration awards, see 9 U.S.C. § 4; Garrett v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 7 F.3d 882, 883-84 (9th Cir. 1993), nor does it create a federal cause of action giving rise to federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. See Kehr v. Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., Inc., 736 F.2d 1283, 1287 (9th Cir. 1984). As the Supreme Court has explained: The [FAA] is something of an anomaly in the field of federal-court jurisdiction. It creates a body of federal substantive law establishing and regulating the duty to honor an agreement to arbitrate, yet it does not create any independent federal-question jurisdic4682 UNITED STATES v. PARK PLACE ASSOCIATES tion. . . . [T]here must be diversity of citizenship or some other independent basis for federal jurisdiction. Moses H. Cone Mem’l Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp., 460 U.S. 1, 25 n.32 (1983); see also Southland Corp. v. Keating, 465 U.S. 1, 15 n.9 (1984). An action under the FAA is an action in contract to enforce the arbitration provision. See Volt Info. Scis., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of Leland Stanford Junior Univ., 489 U.S. 468, 474 (1989) (the FAA was created “to overrule the judiciary’s longstanding refusal to enforce agreements to arbitrate and place such agreements upon the same footing as other contracts” (internal citations and quotations omitted)). Accordingly, as in any contract dispute, to be brought in federal court an action under the FAA must have an independent basis for jurisdiction. See Luong v. Circuit City Stores, Inc. 368 F.3d 1109, 1111 (9th Cir. 2004).7 [2] Section 1345 of Title 28 furnishes an independent basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction for “all civil actions, suits or proceedings commenced by the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 1345; see United States v. Yakima Tribal Court, 806 F.2d 853, 858 (9th Cir. 1986). Here, the United States commenced civil proceedings when it filed a complaint and motion to vacate the arbitration award in the Central District of California on October 8, 2004. See FED. R. CIV. P. 3. Section 1345 is sufficient to support the district court’s jurisdiction over the motion to vacate even though the United States 7 Typically, the diversity statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1332, supplies jurisdiction for actions under the FAA. See Theis Research, Inc. v. Brown & Bain, 400 F.3d 659, 662 (9th Cir. 2005); Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Najd, 294 F.3d 1104, 1106 (9th Cir. 2002). The United States, however, is neither a state nor a citizen of a state, and may neither sue nor be sued under § 1332. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(e); State of Texas v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 258 U.S. 158, 160 (1922); United States v. Dry Dock Sav. Inst., 149 F.2d 917, 918 (2d. Cir. 1945) (“Obviously the United States is not a citizen of any state.”). UNITED STATES v. PARK PLACE ASSOCIATES 4683 did not initiate the arbitration proceedings that underlie the current action.8 [3] The FAA also enumerates orders from which an appeal may be taken. Although the denial of a motion to vacate an arbitration award is not one of the specified grounds for appeal,9 the order falls within the catchall provision providing for appeal of “a final decision with respect to an arbitration that is subject to this title.” 9 U.S.C. § 16(a)(3); see Bridas 8 The United States filed a motion to vacate as a defensive measure, and its timing reflects the short statute of limitations governing such motions. Although a party seeking to confirm an arbitration award has one year to apply to a court for confirmation, see 9 U.S.C. § 9, “[n]otice of a motion to vacate . . . an award must be served . . . within three months after the award is filed or delivered,” 9 U.S.C. § 12 (emphasis added). As sovereign, the United States is generally not subject to limitations periods, except “when Congress has expressly created one” such as in the FAA. United States v. Thornburg, 82 F.3d 886, 893 (9th Cir. 1996) (citing Guaranty Trust Co. v. United States, 304 U.S. 126, 133 (1938)). When the arbitration panel entered an award on July 9, 2004, that date triggered the statute of limitations periods for any motions to confirm or vacate under the FAA. The United States timely filed its notice of appeal. 9 An appeal may be taken from—
(A) refusing a stay of any action under [9 U.S.C. § 3], (B) denying a petition under [9 U.S.C. § 4] to order arbitration to proceed, (C) denying an application under [9 U.S.C. § 206] to compel arbitration, (D) confirming or denying confirmation of an award or partial award, or (E) modifying, correcting, or vacating an award. (2) an interlocutory order granting, continuing, or modifying an injunction against an arbitration that is subject to this title; or (3) a final decision with respect to an arbitration that is subject to this title. 9 U.S.C. § 16(a). 4684 UNITED STATES v. PARK PLACE ASSOCIATES S.A.P.I.C. v. Gov’t of Turkm., 345 F.3d 347, 353 (5th Cir. 2003). We have previously found such orders appealable. See Fid. Fed. Bank, FSB v. Durga Ma Corp., 386 F.3d 1306, 1308 (9th Cir. 2004); Sovak v. Chugai Pharm. Co., 280 F.3d 1266, 1271 (9th Cir. 2002). We thus have jurisdiction over the United States’ appeal of the district court’s order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.