Girard v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc.

644 F. Supp. 52, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25817
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedMay 7, 1986
DocketCiv. A. No. H-84-2452
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 644 F. Supp. 52 (Girard v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Girard v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., 644 F. Supp. 52, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25817 (S.D. Tex. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ON ARBITRATION

HUGHES, District Judge.

In this securities case, the defendants have moved to compel arbitration and to stay court action pending arbitration. Arbitration will be compelled of the state law claims, and arbitration will not be compelled of the RICO and 1934 Act claims. The statutory claims will be stayed.

Guiseppina M.L. Girard (Girard) opened an account with Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. (Drexel), to trade securities. She sustained losses, and she has alleged several causes of action to recover the money from the defendants, including (a) Section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (1933 Act), 15 U.S.C. § 111 (2), (b) Sections 10(b) and 15(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78o (c) (1934 Act), (c) Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961 et seq. (RICO), and (d) state law claims.

The defendants concede that Girard’s claims under the Securities Act of 1933 are not arbitrable.

The Agreement.

The defendants invoke an agreement between Drexel and Girard that provided for settlement by arbitration of all controversies in connection with the stock transáctions she was going to conduct through them.1 Under the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq., they maintain that this court is required to compel arbitration of all claims (other than claims under the 1933 Act).

The court must conduct a two-step inquiry. First, the court must determine whether the parties’ agreement to arbitrate encompasses the claims in question. Secondly, the court must consider whether legal constraints external to the parties’ agreement foreclose the arbitration of those claims. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, — U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 3346, 3355, 87 L.Ed.2d 444 (1985). Conduct Covered.

On its face, the arbitration agreement encompasses all of the plaintiff’s claims. The agreement unambigiously covers all questions between the parties generated by their dealings under the contract or in the account. All of Girard’s complaints concern the defendants’ handling of the securities transactions in the account initiated by the customer agreement.

Unconscionability.

Next, the court must consider whether constraints external to the parties’ agreement foreclose arbitration. Girard [54]*54resists arbitration, on two grounds. First, she claims that the arbitration clause is unconscionable as part of an adhesion contract. That contention is one to be decided by the arbitrator because it concerns the formation of the contract as a whole rather than an issue of misrepresentation in the signing of the arbitration clause itself. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith v. Haydu, 637 F.2d 391, 398 (5th Cir.1981), citing Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin, 388 U.S. 395, 406, 87 S.Ct. 1801, 1807, 18 L.Ed.2d 1270 (1967).

Waiver.

Secondly, Girard argues that the defendants have waived their right to compel arbitration through active participation in this litigation for one year. The party resisting arbitration bears a heavy burden of proof to establish waiver of arbitration. Sibley v. Tandy Corp., 543 F.2d 540, 542 (5th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 824, 98 S.Ct. 71, 54 L.Ed.2d 82 (1977); General Guaranty Ins. Co. v. New Orleans General Agency, Inc., 427 F.2d 924 (5th Cir. 1970). Because the doctrine of intertwining would have precluded arbitration, an earlier motion would have been futile. This motion, filed shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd, 470 U.S. 213, 105 S.Ct. 1238, 84 L.Ed.2d 158 (1985), is timely. See Belke v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, 693 F.2d 1023, 1027 (11th Cir.1982).

Texas Law Questions.

With respect to the pendent state law claims, the plaintiff has not asserted, nor does this court discern, any additional reasons those claims are not referable to arbitration under the agreement or at law. This court will order arbitration of them. See Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd, 105 S.Ct. at 1238.

1934 Act Claims.

Girard has lodged claims under Sections 10(b) and 15(c)2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Fifth Circuit has consistently held that claims brought under the Exchange Act are not arbitrable. Smokey Greenhaw Cotton v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 720 F.2d 1446, 1448 (5th Cir.1983); Sibley v. Tandy Corp., 543 F.2d at 543 n. 3. These cases apply the holding in Wilko v. Swan, 346 U.S. 427, 74 S.Ct. 182, 98 L.Ed. 168 (1953), to claims arising under the 1934 Act. Although the Supreme Court has questioned this extension of Wilko, see Scherk v. Alberto Culver Co., 417 U.S. 506, 513-514; 94 S.Ct. 2449, 2454-2455, 41 L.Ed.2d 270 (1974); see also Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd, 105 S.Ct. at 1244 (White, J. concurring), the cogent view is that “the similarities between the 1933 Securities Act and the 1934 Exchange Act far outweigh any differences which might exist.” Sibley v. Tandy, 543 F.2d at 543, n. 3.

In Wilko, the Supreme Court resolved a conflict between the competing congressional policies manifested in two statutes. As the Supreme Court observed, the Federal Arbitration Act evidences the legislature’s hospitable attitude toward arbitration. On the other hand, the Securities Act constitutes an attempt to establish and protect the rights of investors (in part by establishing special causes of action that include significant procedural rights) and to forbid waiver of those rights. See 15 U.S.C. § 77n. A predispute agreement to arbitrate claims constitutes a stipulation to waive a provision of the Securities Act. The provision, § 22(a), 15 U.S.C. § 77v(a), grants the federal and state courts concurrent jurisdiction and prohibits removal from state courts.

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644 F. Supp. 52, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/girard-v-drexel-burnham-lambert-inc-txsd-1986.