Allen Group, Inc. v. Allen Deutschland GMBH

877 F. Supp. 395, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19050, 1994 WL 774571
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedDecember 2, 1994
Docket1:93-cr-00002
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 877 F. Supp. 395 (Allen Group, Inc. v. Allen Deutschland GMBH) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allen Group, Inc. v. Allen Deutschland GMBH, 877 F. Supp. 395, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19050, 1994 WL 774571 (W.D. Mich. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

QUIST, District Judge.

Plaintiff, The Allen Group, Inc., Testproducts Division (Allen Group) is seeking an order pursuant to 9 U.S.C. §§ 201, 202, 203, 207 and 208, confirming the arbitration awards dated May 2, 1994, rendered in the matter between The Allen Group, Inc., Test-products Division, as claimant, and VLT Werkstatb-Technik AG (VLT) and Erwin Bertschi (Bertschi), as Respondents, American Arbitration Association (AAA) Case No. 54-T181 0157 93. Plaintiff is also requesting that this Court enter judgment against VLT and Bertschi based upon the AAA award.

BACKGROUND FACTS

The plaintiff, Allen Group is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Defendant, VLT, is a Swiss corporation with its principal place of business in Bern, Switzerland. Defendant Bertschi is an individual residing in Switzerland. On March 25, 1985, plaintiff entered into a Distribution Agreement with VLT for the distribution of Allen products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Bertschi, the majority owner and Director of VLT, signed the Distribution Agreement on behalf of defendants. The Distribution Agreement provides, among other things, as follows:

This Agreement shall be construed and interpreted according to the laws of the State of Michigan-U.S.A. Any controversy or claim regarding the application, interpretation, or breach of this Agreement shall at the request of either party, be settled by arbitration in accordance with the rules then obtaining of the American Arbitration Association. This Agreement shall be enforceable and judgment upon any award rendered by the arbitrator, or by all or a majority of arbitrators, may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The arbitration shall be held in Michigan, or wherever jurisdiction may be obtained over the parties.

Disputes arose between the parties, and in December 1992, plaintiff initiated this action in the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court. On January 12, 1993, the defendants had the case removed to this Court pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 81(c). At the time the action was removed from state court to this Court, lawyer Curtis Hall and the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone (Miller, Can-field) represented all defendants. After removing the case to this Court, defendant VLT filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, and all defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint or to stay proceedings and compel arbitration. Plaintiff filed responses to defendants’ motions and a motion to remand the action back to state court. On June 23, 1993, all of the parties requested this Court to enter a “Consent Judgment” which was approved as to form and content by all parties. The Court signed the “Consent Judgment.”

Although the document submitted by the parties was entitled “Consent Judgment,” it did not fully dispose of the case. The Consent Judgment resolved several issues raised by the parties in their motions, and ordered arbitration between plaintiff and defendants. 1 Pursuant to the Consent Judgment, all claims raised by plaintiff against Allen Deutschland GMBH were submitted to arbitration before the Zurich Chamber of Commerce in Zurich, Switzerland; those proceedings are still pending. All claims raised by plaintiff against VLT and Erwin Bertschi were submitted to arbitration before the American Arbitration Association.

On March 24, 1994, the AAA conducted a hearing in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the Western District of Michigan. On May 2, 1994, the arbitrators rendered arbitral awards in favor of Allen and against VLT and Bertschi. Plaintiff is seeking an order from this Court confirming the AAA arbitration awards and for entry and enforcement of judgment.

Plaintiff filed a motion and supporting documents to confirm the arbitration awards. *397 On September 13, 1994, this Court struck those documents from the record and returned them to plaintiff because the record did not disclose that the pleadings had been served upon defendants. Plaintiff refiled the motion to confirm the arbitration awards together with supporting documents. The proof of service indicates that the motion and supporting documents were served upon Curtis Hall at his Miller, Canfield address and upon William Potter, Jr., a lawyer in Detroit, Michigan. 2 The proof of service also shows service upon Joachim Winter, Brand Kestler Lappat Schutt & Partner, Bockenheiver Lanstrasse 98-100, 8000 Frankfurt AM Main 1, Germany, Richard K. Stauffer, Gerbergasse 20, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland, VLT Werkstatt Teehnik AG, Mattenhof, Schulhausstrasse 5, CH-3073, Gumligen/Bern, Switzerland, Erwin Bertschi, Kirchgaessli 7, 3322 Urtenen/Schoenbuehl, Switzerland. This Court received copies of letters to plaintiffs counsel from Miller, Can-field in which Miller, Canfield explained that it no longer represented defendants. This Court also received a copy of a letter from attorney William Potter, Jr., wherein Mr. Potter stated that he no longer represented VLT and further communications should be sent directly to VLT.

On October 26, 1994, this Court ordered the attorneys and defendants to appear at a Show Cause hearing to be held on November 18, 1994. The purpose of the Show Cause hearing was to show why Curtis Hall and Miller, Canfield were no longer representing defendants in this matter; 3 why this case was not totally dismissed by the Consent Judgment dated June 23, 1993, and why a judgment and order confirming the arbitration awards in favor of Allen and against VLT and Bertschi should not be entered as requested by Allen. At the Show Cause hearing Charles Ritter, an attorney from Miller, Canfield, and Curtis Hall asserted that the Consent Judgment which ordered the parties to arbitrate was a final order and terminated Miller, Canfield’s obligation to represent the defendants. Mr. Ritter and Mr. Hall also stated that they had not represented any of the defendants at the arbitration. Miller, Canfield took no position on the request for confirmation and enforcement of the arbitration awards. Neither William Potter, Jr., nor the defendants appeared at the Show Cause hearing. No one claiming to represent any defendant appeared at the Show Cause hearing.

DISCUSSION

The parties agreed in the Consent Judgment that the Court has jurisdiction and that The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (The Convention) applies to this case. The Convention provides in relevant part:

Within three years after an arbitral award falling under the Convention is made, any party to the arbitration may apply to any court having jurisdiction under this chapter [9 U.S.C.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Collins v. D.R. Horton, Inc.
361 F. Supp. 2d 1085 (D. Arizona, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
877 F. Supp. 395, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19050, 1994 WL 774571, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allen-group-inc-v-allen-deutschland-gmbh-miwd-1994.