An appellate court in Massachusetts held that under state law, parties may seek confirmation of an arbitration award in any court of competent jurisdiction within Massachusetts.

In Abraham-Copley Square, LP v. Badaoui, No. 07-P-1278, 2008 WL 3115279 (Mass. App. Ct. Aug. 8, 2008), Abraham-Copley Square (ACS) leased commercial space to Charles Badaoui, and the lease contained an arbitration agreement.

Badaoui caused ACS to suffer damages by vacating the premises beyond the holdover date. ACS sued Badaoui, and the dispute was arbitrated pursuant to the arbitration agreement in the lease. An award was issued in favor of ACS.

Badaoui failed to pay the award within thirty days as ordered by the arbitrator, so ACS moved to confirm the award in Boston Municipal Court. Badaoui moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and improper venue. The Municipal Court denied Badaoui's motion and confirmed the award. A municipal appellate court affirmed the decision.

On appeal, Badaoui argued that the Municipal Court lacked authority to confirm the arbitration award, because under the Massachusetts Uniform Arbitration Act ("MUAA"), an award can only be confirmed in the Superior Court. Badaoui specifically argued that, because§ 17 of the MUAA specifically refers to the Superior Court in two clauses, the Municipal Court did not have jurisdiction to confirm the arbitration award.

The Court rejected Badaoui's arguments and confirmed the award. The Court held that §§ 2 and 17 of the MUAA limit the venue of "initial applications" that seek court orders to compel arbitration or stay arbitration to the Superior Court. However, the Court held that in all other provisions of the MUAA, the definition of "court" comes from § 16, which defines court as "any court of competent jurisdiction of this state." Consequently, the Court held that any court of competent jurisdiction within Massachusetts can confirm an arbitration award under the MUAA.

As a result, the Court held that the Municipal Court had jurisdiction to hear ACS's motion to confirm. The Court reasoned that if it were to agree with Badaoui, it "effectively would make the wording of § 16 surplusage, an interpretation we must avoid in order to harmonize and give meaning to each of the parts of [the MUAA]." Thus, the Court affirmed the Municipal Court's decision to confirm the arbitration award.