Amicus Brief in Daesang Corp. v. Nutrasweet Co. (Appellate Division, 1st Dep’t)

SUMMARY

The International Commercial Disputes Committee (Richard L. Mattiaccio, Chair) filed an amicus brief in Daesang Corp. v. Nutrasweet Co., which is currently on appeal in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (First Department). The United States’ strong national policy favoring arbitration requires that arbitration awards be treated as final and, therefore, they may be vacated only in narrow, statutorily defined circumstances. Courts across the country have determined that the judicially created “manifest disregard of law” doctrine must be treated with the utmost rigor and that arbitration awards be subject to review only in truly extraordinary circumstances when arbitrators deliberately fail in their mandate to try to apply the law governing the dispute. Expansion of the manifest disregard doctrine to permit courts to vacate an award because they may disagree with the arbitrators’ assessment and application of the law would transform the limited review authorized by statute into an appeal on the merits and destroy many of the benefits that make arbitration attractive and effective for parties that have agreed to arbitrate. These principles apply with even greater force to international arbitration.