Caroline Stewart

This Practice Note covers defences under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention) to the enforcement of an arbitral (arbitration) award in the United States of America (US; USA). It covers the defences specifically enumerated in the New York Convention and the unavailability of a defence under Chapter 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act unless the award is non-domestic. It also covers forum non conveniens and enforcement in the USA and issues of sovereign (state) immunity as a defence to enforcement. This topic may also be referred to as: resisting enforcement of an award in the US; defending enforcement of an award in the US; refusing or deferring (refusal or deferral) enforcement of an award in the US; grounds for non-enforcement of an award in the US; vacating or setting aside an arbitration award in the US; grounds for resisting enforcement of an award in the US; challenges to enforcement of awards under US law; and, defending enforcement of arbitration awards in or before the US courts.

This Practice Note considers the recognition and enforcement (recognising and enforcing) of arbitral (arbitration) awards in the United States of America (USA or US) taking into account the Federal Arbitration Act, the criteria set out in the New York Convention and considerations of the local courts. It also sets out the practicalities of filing suit such as where to file and what documents will be needed. This process may be referred to as: enforcing arbitral awards though the national courts; enforcing arbitral awards in American courts; how do you enforce an arbitration award in the US; US award enforcement procedure; enforcing international arbitration awards in the USA; enforcement of foreign commercial awards in the US.