Today’s post covers three new developments from this past week. The Fifth Circuit found a defendant waived its right to arbitrate a class action; the Second Circuit found arbitrators retain power to clarify ambiguous awards; and Jay-Z found his list of potential arbitrators sorely lacking in diversity.

In Forby v. One Technologies, 2018 WL 6191349 (5th Cir. Nov. 28, 2018), a class of plaintiffs filed an action for consumer fraud. The defendant waited two years before compelling arbitration. In the meantime, it removed the case to federal court, transferred venue, and filed a Rule 12 motion to dismiss, which was only partially successful.

In response to the motion to compel, the plaintiffs argued the defendant had waived its right to arbitrate. The district court disagreed, finding that “delay alone is insufficient” to establish the prejudice required to prove waiver. On appeal, however, the Fifth Circuit found prejudice because the plaintiff would “have to re-litigate in the arbitration forum an issue already decided by the district court in its favor”, i.e. the Rule 12 issue. Even if defendant did not make another motion to dismiss in arbitration, the court disapproved of the tactic of “check[ing] the district court’s temperature” on the dispositive issue, before moving the case to another forum.

In General Re Life Corp. v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins Co., 2018 WL 6186078 (Nov. 28, 2018), the Second Circuit examined whether a panel of arbitrators can clarify their own award. In the underlying reinsurance arbitration, the arbitrators had ordered the parties to unwind their agreement, and work together to figure out how much money had to be repaid. In the award, the arbitrators retained jurisdiction to resolve any dispute over the payments. The parties did not agree on the amount of repayment, or even how to calculate it. So, more than three months after the final award, one party wrote the arbitrators, seeking resolution of the payment dispute. The other side objected, characterizing the request as one to reconsider the final award. The panel clarified its award, after finding the award had ambiguities.

The Second Circuit confirmed the clarified award. Although usually an arbitration panel loses authority after issuing the final award, five circuits have recognized an exception to that “functus officio” doctrine where the final award is “susceptible to more than one interpretation”. The Second Circuit adopted the same exception, but limited it to when three conditions are present: the award is ambiguous; the clarification only clarifies the award, and does not substantively modify the award; and the clarification comports with the parties’ arbitration agreement.

Finally, making headlines across the country, Jay-Z has asked a New York state court to stay his arbitration, due to a lack of available African-American arbitrators. I will let you know when I hear of a decision. But, the underlying premise is one I have wondered about – are large arbitration providers a place of “public accommodation”? In the meantime, maybe Jay-Z will write a rap about arbitration… then it could be my theme song!