Suppose you are counsel or an arbitrator in an international arbitration proceeding sited in New York City. You may find yourself confronted with questions as to the extent to which New York State arbitration law, as embodied primarily in Article 75 of the CPLR, impinges on, or supplements, the Federal Arbitration Act, which applies to international and interstate arbitrations taking place in the United States. Many counsel and arbitrators are accustomed to thinking in terms of the Federal Arbitration Act and may, as result, miss opportunities afforded by Article 75 or may otherwise be misguided by failing to examine carefully CPLR provisions that bear on arbitrations taking place in New York.

Although the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) governs arbitration proceedings in the United States involving interstate or foreign commerce,1 there are aspects of arbitration proceedings that, when they take place in New York, are governed by New York State’s procedural law and, in particular, CPLR Article 75, to the extent that it does not conflict with provisions of the FAA.2 These provisions of New York state law may apply regardless of whether federal law, in the form of the FAA, also applies to applications for relief related to arbitration.