Sullivan v. Citibank, N.A.

Blonder & Co., Inc. v. Citibank, N.A.

Mark Andrew v. GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp.

National Union Fire Insurance Co. of
Pittsburgh, Pa. v. LSB Industries, Inc.

Enforcing Arbitration Decisions

Susy Sarfaty v. Safra National Bank

Hale v. Citibank

Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. v.
Crittenden and Langley, et al.

Hammerstein v. The Conference for Material Claims Against Germany, Inc.

Citibank, N.A. v. Trump Taj Mahal Associates, et al.

Qatar Nat'l Navig. & Trans.
Co. v. Citibank, N.A.

Enforcing Arbitration Decisions

ZEK has a nationwide practice representing companies seeking to enforce arbitration agreements. We have successfully achieved rulings in courts from Oregon to Delaware requiring the disputes be submitted to arbitration in accordance with our clients' contracts. Three of those decisions advancing the right of our clients to require arbitration have recently been published.

In In re Transport Associates, Inc., 263 B.R. 531 (W.D. Ky. 2001), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Kentucky granted our client's motion to compel arbitration of a trustee's objection to a Bankruptcy Proof of Claim. The court rejected the trustee's assertions that arbitration would conflict with the Bankruptcy Court's jurisdiction or that Kentucky state law prohibited arbitration of the dispute. The court held that the parties entered into a valid agreement to arbitrate, that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted both state law and the Bankruptcy Code. The court directed the trustee to submit the entire dispute to arbitration before industry experts as required by our client's contract.

In National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Younger Brothers, Inc., 2001 WL 669042 (S.D.N.Y. 2001), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted our client's motion to compel arbitration of a payment dispute. The court rejected assertions that the arbitration agreement was not enforceable or that the insured was not subject to the jurisdiction of the court, holding instead that the arbitration clause should be enforced. As in Transport, the Younger court held that the parties entered into a valid agreement to arbitrate, and the Federal Arbitration Act preempted state law, and the court directed the parties to submit the entire dispute to arbitration before industry experts, as required by the contract.

In Welltech, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., 749 N.Y.S.2d 415 (A.D. 1st Dept. 2002), the Appellate Division affirmed a holding of the New York County Supreme Court denying a motion to stay arbitration. In this case the state court also upheld the supremacy of the Federal Arbitration Act over state law, requiring that issues concerning the statute of limitations be decided by industry experts pursuant to our client's contract.