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Blind Justice And Just Arbitrators: Understanding The Federal Arbitration Act’S Evident Partiality Standard, Heather Cameron

Fordham Law Review

Arbitral awards are intended to be binding on parties who subject their disputes to arbitration. However, an arbitrator’s bias in favor of one of the parties is one of the few grounds on which a party can object to such an award. The standard used to evaluate such bias is known as “evident partiality.” This Note examines two commonly used standards—referred to in this Note as the “possible impression” standard and the “likely actual bias” standard—deployed by U.S. courts to define evident partiality and determine whether the requirements for vacating an arbitral award have been fulfilled. This Note advocates that …