The 2000 Revision to the Uniform Arbitration Act: A Harbinger?

On August 3, 2000, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) unanimously passed major revisions to the Uniform Arbitration Act (UAA). These revisions are the first substantive changes in 55 years to the UAA, which in some form is the basis of arbitration law in 49 jurisdictions. The federal counterpart to the UAA, the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), has not been amended in any substantial fashion for nearly 75 years. Between Congress\u27s passage of the FAA in 1925 and NCCUSL\u27s approval of the UAA in 1955 and the NCCUSL\u27s approval of the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (RUAA) in August of 2000, the number and complexity of arbitration cases have grown dramatically, an evolution spurred on by favorable case-law development by the United States Supreme Court and appellate courts of the 50 states. Thus, the time was ripe for NCCUSL to reconsider the UAA. Despite the importance that the UAA has played and that the RUAA is likely to play in developing the law of arbitration, it is incumbent that Congress consider a similar updating of the FAA because of this federal statute\u27s paramount role. This article discusses some of the primary changes in the RUAA