Reinsurance Focus

Following is a summary of selected court opinions addressing requests for confirmation and vacation of arbitration awards.

Manifest disregard

NYKCool A.B. v. Pacific Fruit, Inc., No. 11-4246 (2d Cir. Jan 16, 2013) (affirming judgment by S.D.N.Y. confirming an arbitration award based on finding that defendant did not establish a “manifest disregard of the law,” or that the panel exceeded its authority or that the panel denied defendant a fundamentally fair hearing)

Murray v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., No. 11-4355 (6th Cir. Jan. 10, 2013) (affirming district court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion to vacate or modify an arbitration award; court could not determine whether the panel acted in “manifest disregard of the law” because plaintiff did not request a reasoned award from the panel)

Swarm, LLC v. Cohen, Case No. 10-03188 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 7, 2012) (granting defendants’ motion to confirm final arbitration award based on finding that arbitrator’s application of the alter ego doctrine, finding of a written agreement, and reliance on the same evidence presented by plaintiff for two different claims is not a “manifest disregard of the law” under the FAA)

Ometto v. ASA Bioenergy Holding A.G., Case No. 12-1328 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 9, 2013) (denying petitioners’ motion to vacate two arbitration awards and granting respondents’ motion to confirm the awards based on finding that petitioners’ grounds for vacatur were without merit, including allegations that the tribunal’s chairman was partial, the tribunal acted in manifest disregard of the law, and the awards were procured through fraud)

Budget Blinds Inc. v. LeClair, Case No. 12-1101 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 16, 2013) (denying petition to vacate arbitration award and granting cross-petition to confirm award, on grounds that petition to vacate did not establish “manifest disregard of the law” or that arbitrator exceeded her authority and was merely an attempt to re-litigate the arbitrator’s factual findings)

Fuchs & Associates, Inc. v. Lesso, No. B239246 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 8, 2013) (affirming trial court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award based on finding that the arbitrator did not exceed his authority and there was no “manifest disregard of the law”)

Exceeding authority

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. United Transportation Union, No. 11-4177 (6th Cir. Dec. 5, 2012) (affirming district court’s reinstatement of arbitration award following magistrate judge’s vacatur; arbitration board did not exceed its jurisdiction when it interpreted contractual provisions)

Zhao v. Ming Due International Trade, Inc., No. B236813 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 7, 2013) (affirming trial court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award based on finding that arbitrator did not exceed the scope of his power by denying plaintiff’s motion for an uncontested arbitration, especially since the parties stipulated to binding arbitration in which the arbitrator would control the proceedings in “his sole discretion”)

Disclosure inadequacy

Gray v. Chiu, No. B238304 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 22, 2013) (reversing trial court’s denial of appellant’s petition to vacate a medical malpractice arbitration award on grounds that the arbitrator violated the disclosure provisions of the California Arbitration Act and the California Ethics Standards for Neutral Arbitrators in Contractual Arbitrations by failing to disclose that counsel for the defendant was affiliated with the abritrator’s firm)

Re-litigating arbitrators’ decisions

Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. v. Bock, Case No. 10-24157 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 17, 2013) (confirming FINRA arbitration award and denying respondent’s motion to vacate the award as an attempt to “re-litigate discovery decisions that were properly before the arbitration panel”)

Untimely vacation request

Domnarski v. UBS Financial Services, Inc., Case No. 12-30139 (D. Mass. Jan. 23, 2013) (denying plaintiff’s motion to vacate a FINRA arbitration award and allowing defendant’s motion to confirm the award because plaintiff filed her motion outside the 3 month limitations period established by the FAA)

Foreign Arbitration Awards – jurisdiction

Covington Marine Corp. v. Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co., No. 12-30383 (5th Cir. Dec. 21, 2012) (affirming district court’s decision to deny confirmation of a foreign arbitral award under the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards against a Chinese shipbuilding company and the People’s Republic of China due to lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction)

This post written by Abigail Kortz.

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