A Better Way Wholesale Autos, Inc. v. Saint Paul

Summary

The court held that Connecticut's thirty-day deadline for seeking to vacate an arbitration award is jurisdictional when the application is filed in Connecticut state court, even when the parties' agreement invokes the Federal Arbitration Act. Because the plaintiff filed more than thirty days after receiving notice of the award, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and the contractual choice-of-law provision could not extend or waive that deadline. The court also held that the state deadline is not preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act because it does not obstruct enforcement of arbitration agreements or discriminate against arbitration.