A US District Court has dismissed a Petition seeking the appointment of a neutral arbitrator, finding that it did not have jurisdiction over the dispute. The only source of jurisdiction cited by the parties was the arbitration agreement. This ruling is in accord with rulings of other courts, which have held that the Federal Arbitration Act is not itself a source of federal court jurisdiction. Typically, parties rest jurisdiction for arbitration disputes in federal courts upon diversity jurisdiction. Northern California Relief. v. Insurance Company of the West, Case No. 08-942 (USDC N.D. Cal. Mar. 10, 2008).
This post written by Rollie Goss.