By Odean Volker ( March 5, 2018, 6:41 PM EST) -- A final award is the culmination and determinative conclusion of an international arbitration. The U.S. Federal Arbitration Act (the "FAA"), however, does not dictate the form that an arbitration award should take. In this absence of statutory guidance, U.S. federal courts have determined that the default position is that arbitrators need not give reasons for their awards.[1] The FAA, and resulting jurisprudence, stands in contrast to arbitral laws of more recent vintage. For example, the UNCITRAL Model Law and the English Arbitration Act of 1996 are explicit in requiring that arbitration awards provide reasons.[2] Likewise, many international institutions have included in their rules a default position that arbitrators provide reasons for their awards.[3] But what is a reasoned award? And why does the meaning of "reasoned award" matter in a U.S. court?...