After the Arbitration Award: Confirming It, Correcting It, or Asking a California Court to Vacate It

Last updated: November 2026. Reviewed by Pavel Kolmogorov, California business litigation attorney (State Bar No. 321018).

A California court can overturn an arbitration award only on the narrow grounds in Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2. They include fraud or corruption, prejudicial arbitrator misconduct, an undisclosed conflict, and an arbitrator who exceeded his or her powers. A plain mistake of law is usually not enough. The losing side has 100 days after service of the signed award to petition, and the winner has four years to seek confirmation. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. handles these petitions for businesses in Orange County, Los Angeles, and across California.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online to discuss an arbitration award you want confirmed, corrected, or challenged.

The award arrives and the clocks start

The arbitrator emails a signed award. One side is relieved. Both sides now face deadlines shorter than most owners expect.

A petition to vacate or correct the award must be served and filed within 100 days after a signed copy is served on the petitioner. A petition for confirmation must be served and filed within four years. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1288.) No petition may be filed for the first 10 days. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1288.4.) A request that the arbitrator fix an evident miscalculation or a defect of form has its own 10-day window. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1284.)

Until a court acts, the award is not a judgment. It has the force of a written contract between the parties. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1287.6.)

If you won the arbitration

If the other side pays, you may never need a court. If it does not, you petition for confirmation. The court must confirm the award as made unless it corrects it, vacates it, or dismisses the proceeding. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1286.) Judgment is then entered, with the same force and effect as a judgment in a civil action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1287.4.)

Four years sounds generous. I would not use it. A prompt petition forces any challenge into the open now.

If you lost the arbitration

Count from the day the signed award was served on you. One hundred days is the statutory limit, excused only in exceptional circumstances, and it is not always the operative one. If the winner files for confirmation first, your response is generally due within 10 days after service of the petition. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1290.6.) A response asking the court to vacate or correct must still be served and filed within the 100 days. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1288.2.) A party who waits for the confirmation hearing to object may find the objection is too late.

The request must fit a statutory ground. The court shall vacate an award procured by corruption, fraud, or other undue means, or tainted by a neutral arbitrator's prejudicial misconduct. Two more grounds do most of the work in business cases: the arbitrators exceeded their powers in a way that cannot be corrected without affecting the merits, or an arbitrator failed to make a required disclosure. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1286.2, subd. (a).)

Why a legal mistake is usually not enough

This is the hardest conversation I have with clients who lost. The arbitrator misread the contract or applied the wrong damages rule, and the award shows it. That usually does not matter. The California Supreme Court has held that an arbitrator's decision is generally not reviewable for errors of fact or law, even when the error appears on the face of the award and causes substantial injustice. (Moncharsh v. Heily & Blase (1992) 3 Cal.4th 1.)

Two exceptions deserve a look. The first is the contract. Parties may agree that the arbitrators have no power to commit errors of law and that a court may review the award for them. California enforces that agreement if the clause says so clearly. (Cable Connection, Inc. v. DIRECTV, Inc. (2008) 44 Cal.4th 1334, 1361.) Read the clause before assuming review is closed. The second is rare: courts have left room for cases in which confirming the award would defeat a party's statutory rights. It seldom fits an ordinary commercial contract dispute.

Grounds that do succeed in business cases

Disclosure comes first. A proposed neutral arbitrator must disclose in writing, within 10 calendar days of notice of the proposed appointment, matters that could cause a person to reasonably doubt his or her impartiality. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.9, subds. (a), (b).) Failing to disclose a known ground for disqualification within the time required is a ground to vacate. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1286.2, subd. (a)(6).) We compare the disclosures against the arbitrator's actual history with the other side and its lawyers.

Excess of power is next. Arbitrators draw their authority from the contract and from what the parties submitted. An award that decides a dispute nobody submitted, or grants a remedy the contract forbids, may exceed it. An award that merely reads the contract wrongly generally does not.

Some errors are corrected, not vacated. An evident miscalculation of figures, or an evident mistake in describing a person or property, is fixed and the award is confirmed as corrected. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1286.6.)

Federal court and the Federal Arbitration Act

Some petitions belong in federal court, and the Federal Arbitration Act has its own numbers. An application for confirmation may be made within one year after the award. (9 U.S.C. § 9.) Notice of a motion to vacate, modify, or correct must be served within three months after the award is filed or delivered. (9 U.S.C. § 12.) The federal grounds resemble California's. (9 U.S.C. § 10(a).) Which statute controls depends on the contract and the court, so plan around the shorter deadline.

What we do after an award

For a winner, we file the confirmation petition promptly and oppose any request to vacate. For a loser, we give an honest assessment early, because a weak petition costs money and changes nothing.

A judgment entered on a confirmed award can be appealed. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1294, subd. (d).) Our page on appealing a business judgment explains that process.

A petition is generally filed in the county where the arbitration was held. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1292.2.) We handle these petitions in the Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, the Los Angeles Superior Court's Stanley Mosk Courthouse, and, where federal jurisdiction exists, the Central District of California. For the steps before the award, see our page on the motion to compel arbitration or our civil litigation practice page.

What to bring to the first meeting

The signed award and the email or letter that delivered it, with the date.
The contract containing the arbitration clause.
The arbitrator's disclosure statements.
The arbitration demand, the briefs, and any hearing transcript.
Any court order that sent the dispute to arbitration.

Frequently asked questions

We lost a business arbitration and the arbitrator plainly got the law wrong. Can a California court overturn the award?

Usually not on that ground alone. California courts generally do not review an arbitrator's decision for errors of fact or law unless the arbitration agreement provides for that review. A court can vacate only on the grounds in Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2, such as fraud, prejudicial misconduct, an undisclosed conflict, or an excess of the arbitrator's powers.

The other side still has not paid the arbitration award we won months ago. What is our next step?

Petition the court for an order confirming the award. In California the petition may be filed once 10 days have passed since the signed award was served, and it must be filed within four years. On a properly served and filed petition, the court must confirm the award unless it corrects it, vacates it, or dismisses the proceeding. The resulting judgment has the same force as any other civil judgment.

Can you appeal an arbitration award?

Not in the usual sense. Unless the arbitration agreement says otherwise, courts generally do not review the merits of a California arbitration award. The losing party may petition the superior court to vacate or correct the award on limited statutory grounds, and the judgment entered after that petition can be appealed.

How long do I have to vacate an arbitration award in California?

A petition to vacate or correct must be served and filed within 100 days after a signed copy of the award is served on you, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1288. If the other side files for confirmation first, your response is generally due 10 days after service of that petition. Under the Federal Arbitration Act the period is three months.

What are the grounds to vacate an arbitration award?

California Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2 lists six. The award was procured by corruption, fraud, or undue means. An arbitrator was corrupt. A neutral arbitrator's misconduct, or a refusal to postpone the hearing or hear material evidence, substantially prejudiced a party. The arbitrators exceeded their powers and the award cannot be corrected without affecting the merits. Or an arbitrator failed to disclose a known ground for disqualification, or to step aside when required.

Talk to a California arbitration and business litigation attorney

If you are holding an arbitration award, or facing one, call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online before the deadlines run. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is located at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618, and represents businesses in Orange County, Los Angeles, and throughout California.

This page provides general information about California law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the arbitration agreement, the record, and the court.