Multiple courts have held that statutes of limitations simply do not apply in an arbitration proceeding without some contractual provision. The Texas Supreme Court has held that an arbitration agreement's incorporation of a shortened limitations period must be clear and unmistakable.The answer is that a typical statute of limitations probably does not apply to an arbitration. I say "probably" because there is a split of authority. Contracting parties recognize that a lawsuit in court for breach of contract must generally be commenced before the statute of limitations had expired.