Texas: Did arbitration agreement expand judicial review of award?

Originally published by Gene Roberts.

In Denbury Onshore, LLC v. Texcal Energy South Texas LP, et al., the Fourteenth Court of Appeals was asked whether the parties contracted to expand judicial review of the arbitration award under conventional appeal standards from a final judgment, instead of the limited grounds for reversal under the Federal or Texas arbitration acts.

Relying upon the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hall St. Assocs., LLC v. Mattel, Inc, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals held that parties to an arbitration agreement governed by the FAA, but not the TAA, may not contractually supplement the statutory bases for vacatur denied in the statute. In Nafta Traders, Inc. v. Quinn, however, the Texas Supreme Court held that when only the TAA applies, or when both the TAA and the FAA apply, parties may contract for expanded court review of the arbitration award by agreeing that the arbitrators do or do not have the power or authity to reach a decision based on reversible error.

Here, the Court of Appeals held presumed that both …

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