It is no secret that convincing a judge to vacate or even modify an arbitration award is a tall order. Even more difficult is to vacate based on a public policy argument. To establish vacatur on public policy grounds, a petitioner must show either that the arbitrator decided an issue…
The parties to a failed merger agreed to arbitrate the issue of damages resulting from the inability to complete the merger. As part of the arbitration, one of the parties made a declaration specifically disavowing any knowledge of a certain escrow payment that was to have been made as part…
Typically, properly executed arbitration agreements, even as boilerplate in a form agreement, are strictly enforced. That said, there is an interesting 2017 First Department case that allows a party to avoid arbitration due to the cost of doing so. In this case, as part of his employment, an employee agreed…
Plaintiff and defendant entered into a contract for architectural services. Their contract had a rider that provided for additional fees and contained an arbitration provision. In response to plaintiff’s lawsuit seeking fees, defendant moved to dismiss based on the arbitration provision in the rider. Plaintiff claimed that the rider was…
Suffolk County Commercial Division Justice Elizabeth Emerson refused to vacate a FINRA arbitration decision which awarded the petitioner $3,229,097, plus interest, after respondent defaulted in the underlying arbitration. The facts, briefly, are as follows. Respondent was petitioner’s investment advisor and broker. After withdrawing her participation in a FINRA investigation, respondent…
A broker was hired to find a tenant for a residential apartment in Manhattan. The parties agreed that the broker would receive a six percent commission if the tenant purchased the apartment within six of months after the lease expired, or any extension thereof. The broker found a tenant, and…