§ 8.01-581.021.Enforcement; civil remedies.

This section gives the Arbitration Fairness Act teeth on three fronts. First, an individual remedy: a party subjected to an arbitrator selection process that violates the article can go to court for injunctive relief or another appropriate civil remedy, filing in the circuit court of the city or county where the arbitration will be held, or in the Richmond circuit court. If the arbitration already went forward and produced an award, the party is not without a remedy after the fact — they can apply to vacate the award under § 8.01-581.010 on the ground that the arbitrator was selected in violation of this article, which is one of the six grounds that statute recognizes.

Second, a regulatory penalty: when the State Corporation Commission determines that a high-volume arbitration service provider has failed to comply with the article, it can impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation.

Third, the section locks its own requirements into every covered contract — the article’s requirements are treated as material terms of any pre-dispute arbitration agreement governed by Virginia contract law, so violating them is not a mere technicality but a breach of the agreement itself.

Finally, the section is careful not to pick a fight with federal law. It disclaims any intent to preempt federal arbitration law, directs that it be read consistently with federal law wherever possible, and includes a severability clause so that if one provision is struck down, the rest of the section still stands.