DISTRICT COURT DENIES MOTION TO STAY ARBITRATION WHILE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION PENDING
After granting defendant Lloyd’s motion to compel arbitration, plaintiff B.D. Cooke and Partners filed a motion for reconsideration of the order. Soon thereafter, B.D. Cooke contacted Lloyd’s to begin arbitration. Lloyd’s subsequently filed a motion to stay arbitration pending the result of B.D. Cooke’s motion for reconsideration. The District Court for the Southern District of New York likened the analysis to a stay of arbitration requested pending appeal of a court’s order compelling arbitration. In such situations, the court explained, motions to stay are generally denied unless the equities tip decisively in the direction of a stay, such as when irreparable harm or clear hardship would otherwise result. The Court denied the motion to stay, reasoning that incurring unnecessary expenses did not constitute sufficient harm to the defendant. The court, however, denied plaintiff’s motion for fees finding that the motion to stay was not brought in bad faith. B.D. Cooke & Partners Ltd. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, Case No. 08-3435 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Nov. 19, 2009).
This post written by John Black.
