SDNY Confirms Arbitration Award Under New York Convention

In Exclusive Trim Inc. v. Kastamonu Romania, S.A., the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a petition to confirm and enforce a foreign arbitration award issued in an arbitration held before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.

The parties entered into a supply agreement, which, among other terms, set forth the minimum amount of product to be purchased by the petitioner from the respondent in the first year. The agreement also included an arbitration provision requiring all controversies and claims be resolved through arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and “judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.” A dispute arose between the parties and the petitioner filed an arbitration proceeding with the AAA alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The matter was assigned to the AAA’s international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution. After an evidentiary hearing held in New York, the arbitrator issued an award for the petitioner on its claims and rejected the respondent’s counterclaim. The award required the respondent to make payment within 30 days.

After the respondent failed to satisfy the award, the petitioner filed a petition under the New York Convention and the Federal Arbitration Act to confirm and enforce the award. The respondent did not oppose the petition. In reviewing the petition, the district court concluded it had jurisdiction over the matter, noting that the four requirements for determining whether an arbitration agreement falls within the scope of the New York Convention had been met: “(1) there must be a written agreement; (2) it must provide for arbitration in the territory of a signatory of the convention; (3) the subject matter must be commercial; and (4) it cannot be entirely domestic in scope.” The court then analyzed the applicable standard of review for the matter, noting that it must enforce the arbitration award unless one of the seven defenses under the New York Convention was established. The court noted that the respondent had not appeared in the action or opposed the petition, and “if a petition to enforce an arbitration award is unopposed, a court need not inquire on its own into whether an exception to enforcement applies” and, in any event, there was no suggestion in the record that any of the defenses under the New York Convention were applicable. The court held that the petitioner established it was entitled to judgment in its favor in accordance with the award and granted the petition.

Exclusive Trim, Inc. v. Kastamonu Romania, S.A., No. 1:23-cv-03410 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 12, 2023).