Ovitz

The issues in this appeal involve the interplay of three arcane and technical areas of law: the California disclosure obligations in contractual arbitration; the California statute governing the vacating of arbitration awards; and the limited preemptive effect of the Federal Arbitration Act on state arbitration law.

Responding to legislative mandate, the California Judicial Council promulgated the California Ethics Standards for Neutral Arbitrators in Contractual Arbitration. (23 pt. 4 West’s Ann. Cal. Rules of Court (appen., div. VI) (2005 ed.), pp. 566-588; California Standards.) The standards require arbitrators to make comprehensive disclosures of potential grounds for disqualification. On a showing that the arbitrator failed timely to disclose a ground for disqualification of which he or she was aware, the California Code of Civil Procedure requires the vacating of any award rendered by the arbitrator. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1286.2, subd. (a)(6)(A) (section 1286.2(a)(6)(A).)

By contrast, the Federal Arbitration Act employs a different standard: it permits the vacating of an arbitration award only on a showing of “evident partiality” by the arbitrator. ( 9 U.S.C. § 10…