The Utah Uniform Arbitration Act, codified at Title 78B, Chapter 11 of the Utah Code, governs how written arbitration agreements are enforced, how arbitration proceedings run, and how the resulting awards are confirmed, vacated, or modified in court. It applies to any written agreement to arbitrate made on or after May 6, 2002, and it treats those agreements as binding and irrevocable unless a standard contract defense applies.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-107 – Validity of Agreement to Arbitrate The stages below track a dispute from the moment someone tries to enforce (or dodge) an arbitration clause through the final court judgment.
When the Act Applies
The Act reaches agreements to submit existing or future disputes to arbitration, whether the underlying relationship is commercial, employment, or something else. An arbitration clause tucked into an old contract is still enforceable so long as the agreement was made on or after May 6, 2002, or the parties later agree on the record to apply the Act to an older agreement.2Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-104 – Application
The validity of the agreement itself is always a question for the court, not the arbitrator. Courts have invalidated arbitration clauses found to be unconscionable, and clauses that try to waive statutory rights are vulnerable.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-107 – Validity of Agreement to Arbitrate
Some disputes sit outside the Act’s normal reach. Child-related disputes carry special enforceability requirements under a separate chapter of Utah law: an agreement to arbitrate a future child-custody or child-support dispute is generally unenforceable unless the parties reaffirm it after the dispute arises or a court approves it during a family law proceeding.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 81-15-104 – Arbitration Agreement Federal law also carves out sexual assault and sexual harassment claims: the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act lets a person bringing those claims reject a pre-dispute arbitration agreement and go to court instead.4Congress.gov. Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021
Compelling a Reluctant Party into Arbitration
When one side refuses to arbitrate despite a binding agreement, the other side can move the court to compel arbitration. The court’s inquiry is narrow: is there a valid arbitration agreement, and does the dispute fall within it?1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-107 – Validity of Agreement to Arbitrate If the refusing party doesn’t appear or doesn’t oppose the motion, the court must order arbitration.5Utah Legislature. Utah Code Chapter 78B-11 – Utah Uniform Arbitration Act Ambiguities about which disputes the clause covers tend to be resolved in favor of arbitration.
Losing the Right by Litigating First
You can forfeit the right to arbitrate by participating in a lawsuit too long before asserting it. Utah courts apply a two-part test: did the party seeking arbitration participate in litigation to a point inconsistent with the intent to arbitrate, and was the other side prejudiced as a result? Prejudice can include incurring the sort of costs arbitration was meant to avoid, or the party seeking arbitration gaining discovery it would not have received in arbitration. A no-waiver clause in the contract is one factor the court weighs, not a shield.6Justia. ASC v. Wolf Mountain Resorts – Utah Supreme Court If you intend to arbitrate, raise it early.
How the Proceeding Runs
Selecting and Vetting the Arbitrator
If the arbitration agreement specifies a method for choosing an arbitrator, that method controls. If the parties haven’t agreed on one, the agreed method fails, or an appointed arbitrator can’t serve, any party can ask the court to appoint one, and a court-appointed arbitrator has the same powers as one the parties selected themselves.7Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-112 – Appointment of Arbitrator – Service as a Neutral Arbitrator
Neutrality is enforced through disclosure. Before accepting an appointment, an arbitrator must disclose any financial or personal interest in the outcome and any past or current relationship with the parties, their lawyers, witnesses, or other arbitrators. The obligation continues throughout the proceeding. An arbitrator who fails to disclose a known, direct, and material interest in the outcome, or a substantial relationship with a party, is presumed to have acted with evident partiality, which is grounds for vacating the entire award.8Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-113 – Disclosure by Arbitrator Anyone with a known, direct, and material interest in the outcome or a known, existing, and substantial relationship with a party is disqualified from serving as a neutral arbitrator.7Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-112 – Appointment of Arbitrator – Service as a Neutral Arbitrator
Your Rights at the Hearing
Arbitration hearings are less formal than trials, but core protections apply. Under Utah Code 78B-11-116, each party has the right to be heard, to present relevant evidence, and to cross-examine witnesses who appear.5Utah Legislature. Utah Code Chapter 78B-11 – Utah Uniform Arbitration Act Hearings may be in person, by video, or on written submissions if both sides agree. The arbitrator sets time limits and manages procedure. Formal rules of evidence do not apply, so arbitrators have leeway on what testimony and documents to consider, but they must still give both sides a fair opportunity to make their case.
Discovery and Subpoenas
Discovery in arbitration is leaner than in court by design. The arbitrator can allow depositions, document requests, and other discovery, balancing the parties’ needs against keeping the process fair, efficient, and affordable. When a witness will not cooperate, arbitrators can issue subpoenas, served the same way as subpoenas in civil court. If a subpoena is ignored, the arbitrator or a party can ask the court to enforce it.9Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-118 – Witnesses – Subpoenas – Depositions – Discovery
If a Party Skips the Hearing
Ignoring an arbitration does not stop it. If a party has proper notice and fails to appear, the arbitrator can proceed without them and issue an award on the evidence presented.5Utah Legislature. Utah Code Chapter 78B-11 – Utah Uniform Arbitration Act A default award is enforceable, and the options to challenge it later are limited.
The Award and Turning It into a Judgment
After the hearing, the arbitrator issues a written award signed or otherwise authenticated by any arbitrator who agrees with it.10Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-120 – Award The Act requires a formal record of the award but does not require the arbitrator to explain the reasoning in detail. Some arbitration rules or agreements require reasoned awards; the statute does not.
An arbitration award is not self-executing. The winning party has to petition the court for a confirmation order. Once confirmed, the award becomes a judgment enforceable like any other, through collection, liens, and garnishment. The court must confirm the award unless it has been modified, corrected, or vacated under the relevant sections of the Act.11Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-123 – Confirmation of Award The 90-day window for challenging an award effectively sets the timeline: once it passes without a challenge, there is no remaining basis to deny confirmation.12Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-124 – Vacating an Award
File the motion to confirm or vacate in the court of the county specified in the arbitration agreement as the hearing location, or where the hearing actually took place. If neither applies, file where the opposing party lives or does business in Utah.13Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-128 – Venue
Grounds to Vacate an Award
Courts do not second-guess the arbitrator’s factual findings or legal conclusions. The grounds for throwing out an award are deliberately narrow. Under Utah Code 78B-11-124, a court must vacate an award for any of the following:
- Corruption, fraud, or undue means in obtaining the award.
- Evident partiality by a neutral arbitrator, arbitrator corruption, or arbitrator misconduct that prejudiced a party.
- Denial of a fair hearing, including refusing to postpone the hearing when good cause existed, refusing to consider material evidence, or conducting the hearing in a way that substantially prejudiced a party.
- The arbitrator exceeding the scope of the arbitration agreement.
- No valid agreement to arbitrate, unless the challenging party participated without objecting at the start.
- Lack of proper notice that substantially prejudiced a party’s rights.
The motion must be filed within 90 days after receiving notice of the award. If the challenge is based on corruption or fraud, the 90 days runs from when the misconduct was discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence.12Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-124 – Vacating an Award
Modifying or Correcting an Award
Modification is narrower still. A court can correct an award only for specific, objective mistakes:
- An evident mathematical miscalculation.
- An error in describing a person, thing, or property.
- A ruling on a matter that was not submitted, where the ruling can be separated from the rest of the award without affecting it.
- An imperfection in the form of the award that does not affect its substance.
The same 90-day deadline applies. The court can fix the award itself or send it back to the arbitrator. What the court cannot do is reweigh the evidence, reconsider the arbitrator’s contract interpretation, or substitute its own judgment on the merits.14Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-125 – Modification or Correction of Award
Attorney Fees for Contested Post-Award Motions
If the post-award court proceedings are contested, the prevailing party can ask the court to add reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses to the final judgment. The fees must have been incurred in the judicial proceeding after the award; fees spent during the arbitration itself are not recoverable through this provision.15Utah Legislature. Utah Code 78B-11-126 – Judgment on Award – Attorney Fees and Litigation Expenses The court also has discretion to allow reasonable motion costs. A losing challenger can end up paying the other side’s legal bills on top of the original award, which is worth weighing before filing a marginal motion to vacate.