First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan

In this case we consider two questions about how courts should review certain matters under the federal Arbitration Act, 9 U. S. C. § 1 et seq. (1988 ed. and Supp. V): (1) how a district court should review an arbitrator’s decision that the parties agreed to arbitrate a dispute, and (2) how a court of appeals should review a district court’s decision confirming, or refusing to vacate, an arbitration award.

I

The case concerns several related disputes between, on one side, First Options of Chicago, Inc., a firm that clears stock trades on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and, on the other side,…