Reinsurance Focus

Manifest Disregard:

Paul Green School of Rock Music Franchising, LLC v. Smith, Case No. 09-2718 (3d Cir. Aug. 2, 2010) (affirming district court’s confirmation of arbitration award; holding no manifest disregard; declining to address whether the Third Circuit considers “manifest disregard” to be a valid ground for vacatur of an arbitration award under the FAA)

The Burton Corp. v. Shanghai Viquest Precision Industries, Co., Case No. 10 Civ. 3163 (USDC S.D.N.Y. August 3, 2010) (denying petition to vacate award; granting petition to confirm award; noting that in the Second Circuit, “manifest disregard” remains a valid ground for vacating arbitration awards; finding no manifest disregard; arbitrator did not exceed authority)

Kunz v. JHP Enterprises, LLC, Case No. 1:09CV115 (USDC D. Utah August 9, 2010) (granting motion to confirm FINRA award; no manifest disregard)

Ozormoor v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., Case No. 08-11717 (USDC E.D. Mich. August 19, 2010) (denying motion to vacate award; arbitrator did not exceed authority; no manifest disregard; upholding one-year limitation provision in arbitration agreement)

Westerlund v. Landmark Aviation, Case No. CV09-0686 (USDC C.D. Cal. August 9, 2010) (denying motions to vacate and motion to modify award; granting motion to confirm award; no manifest disregard; award not “completely irrational”; arbitrator did not exceed powers)

Choice of Law:

Idea Nuova, Inc. v. GM Licensing Group, Inc., Case No. 09-3652 (2d Cir. Aug. 9, 2010) (affirming district court’s (1) dismissal of complaint to vacate or modify arbitration award and (2) confirmation of award; concluding that by agreeing to submit disputes “to AAA arbitration for resolution,” the parties incorporated the AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules into their agreement)

Johnson v. Rosenfeld, Case No. 08-56911 (9th Cir. Aug. 13, 2010) (affirming district court’s confirmation of award and application of choice of law provision; holding that arbitrator did not violate California disclosure rules nor exceed his powers under California arbitration procedure)

Overlapping Remedies:

Kaliroy Produce Co. v. Pacific Tomato Growers, Inc., Case No. CIV 10-160 (USDC D. Az. Aug. 4, 2010) (denying motion to vacate award; granting petition to confirm award; holding that New York Convention’s remedies are not exclusive of remedies under the FAA; among other rulings: no manifest disregard, no violation of public policy, award did not “fail to draw its essence” from arbitration agreement; no evident partiality; Notice of Appeal to Ninth Circuit)

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. v. Qiagen Gaithersburg, Inc., Case No. 09 Civ 7326, 7396 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2010) (denying motion to vacate international arbitration award; granting motion to confirm award; finding that matter was “international” under the New York Convention but that FAA also applied; no manifest disregard; arbitrator did not exceed authority)

This post written by Michael Wolgin.