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Denied: Pro Se Litigant’s Petition to Confirm Arbitration Award He Rendered Against Republican National Committee
August 24, 2020

Peter Wirs has filed a series of actions against the Republican National Committee since at least 2009. Not finding success in the courts, he apparently decided to arbitrate his claims against the RNC, with “Wirs himself serv[ing] as the arbitrator.” When Wirs sought to confirm the award he had given himself, the RNC responded by invoking the Rooker-Feldman doctrine and res judicata. In applying the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, the court noted that the proper standard is not whether the plaintiff’s claim is “inextricably intertwined” with a prior state court adjudication, but rather “whether the plaintiff, having lost in state court, is seeking review of a state court’s judgment that injured him.” The court determined that Wirs’ claims were barred by both the Rooker-Feldman doctrine and res judicata and denied the petition to confirm. In addition, the court cautioned Wirs that it “will consider sanctions if he files repetitive, meritless, vexatious, or frivolous submissions.”

In re Motion to Confirm Arbitration Award, No. 19-3998 (3d Cir. Aug. 5, 2020).
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Image: Benjamin E. Stearns
Benjamin E. Stearns
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