Driveline Baseball Enterprises LLC v. Top Velocity LLC ( 2021 )

1 HONORABLE RICHARD A. JONES 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 11 DRIVELINE BASEBALL ENTERPRISES, LLC, a Washington corporation, 12 No. 2:21-cv-00946-RAJ 13 Petitioner, v. 14 TOP VELOCITY, LLC, a Louisiana 15 corporation, and BRENT POURCIAU, ORDER 16 Individually and on Behalf of the Marital Community Comprised of BRENT 17 POURCIAU and JANE DOE POURCIAU, 18 Respondents. 19 20 I. INTRODUCTION 21 This matter comes before the Court on Petitioner Driveline Baseball Enterprises, 22 LLC’s (“Petitioner”) petition to confirm its arbitration award against Respondents Top 23 Velocity, LLC and Brent Pourciau (collectively “Respondents”). Dkt. 1. For the reasons 24 below, the Court GRANTS the petition. Id. 25 II. BACKGROUND 26 On January 25, 2021, Petitioner filed a demand for arbitration (the “Demand”) 27 1 with JAMS, entitled Driveline Baseball Enterprises, LLC v. Top Velocity, LLC and Brent 2 Pourciau, JAMS Ref. No. 1160024119 (the “Arbitration”). Id. ¶ 8. Petitioner asserted 3 that Respondents breached a January 28, 2020 Settlement Agreement between the parties 4 (the “Agreement”) and sought $150,000 in liquidated damages for each breach. Id. ¶ 9- 5 10. On May 27, 2021, the Hon. J. Kathleen Learned presided over a one-day arbitration 6 hearing in which all parties were represented. Id. ¶ 14. 7 On June 15, 2021, Arbitrator Learned issued a partial final arbitration award in 8 Petitioner’s favor in the amount of $300,000 in liquidated damages and directed 9 Petitioner to submit a petition for attorney’s fees in accordance with the Agreement. Id. 10 ¶ 16. Two weeks later, Petitioner submitted a petition for attorney’s fees and costs in the 11 amount of $59,933.70. Id. ¶ 17. On July 15, 2021, Arbitrator Learned issued the final 12 arbitration award incorporating the June 15, 2021 partial final award and an award of 13 attorneys’ fees and costs for a total of $359,933.70 with an annual interest of twelve 14 percent from the date of issuance of the award. Id. ¶ 18. 15 On July 15, 2021, Petitioner brought this action to confirm the arbitration award. 16 Id. A month later, Respondents submitted objections, noting that pursuant to 9 U.S.C. 17 § 12, Respondents have three months from the date on which the award is filed to move 18 the court to vacate or modify the award. Dkt. 11 ¶ 19. Therefore, Respondents claim that 19 Petitioner “could have and should have waited until the (3) month deadline passed for 20 Respondents to file a motion to vacate/modify the award,” and asked the Court to wait to 21 rule on the Petition until the deadline to file a motion to challenge the award had passed 22 on September 15, 2021. Id. Respondents indicated that they would file a motion to 23 vacate/modify the arbitration award by the deadline. Id. at 4. Petitioner subsequently 24 filed a reply arguing that Respondents did not have grounds to move to vacate the award 25 and claiming that Petitioner was entitled to additional attorneys’ fees under the terms of 26 the Agreement based on Respondents’ attempt to oppose the arbitration award. Dkt. 12 27 at 3. 1 On September 15, 2021, Respondents withdrew their objection to the entry of 2 judgment on the arbitration award. Dkt. # 13. Although Respondents indicated that they 3 “vehemently disagree with the contents of the award,” they affirmed that they would not 4 file a motion to modify or vacate the arbitration award, Dkt. 14 at 3, and “there will be no 5 challenge to the award under 9 USC § 10 or 9 USC § 11,” Dkt. 13 at 2. With respect to 6 Petitioner’s claim for additional attorneys’ fees, Respondents argue that no further fees or 7 costs should be awarded because Petitioner’s petition for entry of the award “was 8 premature and before the expiration of Respondents’ rights” and Petitioner refused to 9 accommodate Respondents with respect to their request for continuance to avoid such 10 costs. Id. at 2-3. 11 III. DISCUSSION 12 The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 9, states that “any time within 13 one year after the award is made any party to the arbitration may apply to the 14 court . . . for an order confirming the award.” If an award is not vacated, modified, or 15 corrected under § 10 or § 11, then the court must grant a motion confirming the 16 arbitration award. 9 U.S.C. § 9. “[C]ourts may vacate an arbitrator’s decision ‘only in 17 very unusual circumstances.’” Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. 564 (2013) 18 (citation omitted). “It is only when [an] arbitrator strays from interpretation and 19 application of the agreement and effectively ‘dispense[s] his own brand of industrial 20 justice’ that his decision may be unenforceable.” Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Int’l 21 Corp., 559 U.S. 662, 671 (2010). 22 Petitioner brought this action within one year of the arbitration award pursuant to 23 9 U.S.C. § 9. Respondents were served with the statutorily required notice of the petition 24 in accordance with 9 U.S.C. § 9. Respondents withdrew any objections and do not 25 challenge the award under 9 U.S.C. § 10 or 9 U.S.C. § 11. The arbitration award has not 26 been vacated under 9 U.S.C. § 10 or modified or corrected under 9 U.S.C. § 11. The 27 Court finds that Petitioner is entitled to confirmation of the award. 1 / / 2 / / 3 / / 4 / / 5 IV. CONCLUSION 6 For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Petitioner’s petition to confirm the 7 arbitration award. Dkt. 1. It is hereby ORDERED that the arbitration award is 8 CONFIRMED in its entirety. The Court defers ruling on liability of additional 9 attorneys’ fees related to Petitioner’s petition. Petitioner may submit its request for 10 additional attorneys’ fees related to its petition within fourteen (14) days of the date of 11 this order. 12 13 DATED this 6th day of December, 2021. A 14 15 The Honorable Richard A. Jones 16 United States District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27