Litigation attorney Matthew Iverson authored an article in the 2025 edition of the New York State Bar Association’s New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer. In the article, Iverson discusses how arbitration awards, even those covered by confidentiality clauses, can become public if a party seeks court confirmation under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). However, the Second Circuit’s Stafford v. IBM decision establishes that fully satisfied awards with confidentiality clauses should remain sealed, though state courts, like those in New York, may still require confirmation, potentially affecting confidentiality.

Under Stafford, “a pe­tition to confirm an arbitration award is moot when there is no longer any issue over payment or ongoing compliance with a prospective award.”7 When an award provides only monetary relief, mooting a confirmation request is straight­forward – the unsuccessful party must pay the award in full. As Stafford makes clear, the point of FAA confirmation is enforcement, as confirmation allows a prevailing arbitra­tion party to use the court’s contempt machinery to force the losing party to satisfy the award. Absent confirmation, a prevailing arbitration party can’t force the losing party to do anything. But enforcement only matters if the award is not satisfied. Once the losing party pays in full, there is nothing left for a court to enforce, and the winning party’s confirma­tion request becomes moot.

Read the full article here.