HB527 Summary

• Adopts the Alabama Revised Uniform Arbitration Act to allow written agreements to arbitrate future controversies to be enforceable if entered into freely and knowingly by parties, replacing Alabama's previous anti-arbitration statute.

• Establishes specific procedural requirements for valid arbitration agreements including separate written agreements, attorney representation at execution, or prominent notice on contracts using specified formatting and font sizes.

• Creates a comprehensive arbitration framework governing appointment of arbitrators, arbitrator disclosure obligations, discovery procedures, witness testimony, and issuance of awards with arbitrators empowered to award reasonable punitive damages.

• Provides courts with authority to compel arbitration, confirm or vacate awards, and modify awards based on enumerated grounds including corruption, fraud, evident partiality, or arbitrator misconduct, with appeal rights preserved.

• Repeals the former Division 1, Article 1, Title 6, Chapter 6 of the Alabama Code relating to arbitration and becomes effective three months after passage and approval.