In re the Arbitration between Lubin & Schlesinger, Inc. & Scheinberg

168 Misc. 2d 291, 641 N.Y.S.2d 509
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 25, 1996
StatusPublished

This text of 168 Misc. 2d 291 (In re the Arbitration between Lubin & Schlesinger, Inc. & Scheinberg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Arbitration between Lubin & Schlesinger, Inc. & Scheinberg, 168 Misc. 2d 291, 641 N.Y.S.2d 509 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Edward H. Lehner, J.

[293]*293Before the court are the motions of the petitioners in the two above-entitled proceedings to vacate and set aside the arbitration award dated March 14, 1995, and the application by respondent to confirm the award and attach assets of petitioners.

In June 1992, after respondent acquired 20% of the shares of respondent Lubin & Schlesinger, Inc. (L&S) for $100,000, he entered into an agreement with the other shareholders (the Agreement) which contained, among other provisions, restrictions on the transfer of shares so that should any shareholder desire to sell his or her shares, the person would be required to offer them first to the corporation at the value thereof as determined by the then accountants of the corporation "computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles”, which valuation "shall be final and binding upon all parties”. The purchase price would be payable by the corporation over a specified period of time. The Agreement further provided that: "Any dispute arising hereunder shall * * * be submitted to the Board of Arbitration of the American Stock Exchange and the decision of such Board shall be final and binding upon the parties.”

By letter dated August 30, 1993, directed to petitioner Lubin (the controlling shareholder) "c/o LTL International Trading Corp.” (LTL), respondent stated that he was "withdrawing from the corporation due to personal reasons”. During his 14-month period of stock ownership of L&S, respondent received distributions of interest and income of approximately $40,000.

The accountants for L&S thereafter determined that the value of respondent’s shares as of September 20, 1993 was $85,358. Respondent objected to that valuation and, by statement of claim dated December 10, 1993, instituted an arbitration proceeding. Although the statement does not specify the amount of respondent’s claim, there is no dispute in the papers that the amount in controversy was then $15,000. Both L&S and LTL were named as parties, although in the statement of claim respondent asserts that the name of L&S was changed to LTL. While a certificate to effect such change was executed, it appears that it was never filed and that there is no existing corporation known as LTL.

In January 1994, the assets of L&S were transferred to a new corporation, Mitoric Trading, Inc. (Mitoric), whose shareholders included six persons who did not own shares of L&S and who purportedly invested $450,000 in Mitoric. However, L&S retained approximately $55,000 to pay the [294]*294amount still owing pursuant to the valuation of its accountants under the pay-out provisions of the Agreement ($38,411.10), plus the $15,000 in dispute.

By amended statement of claim dated August 22, 1994, respondent amended his claim to include Lubin and Mitoric as parties, and added claims (i) for profits of L&S and Mitoric subsequent to his withdrawal; (ii) against Lubin and L&S for breach of fiduciary duties; and (iii) against Mitoric for obtaining the assets of L&S without providing adequate consideration.

Although the amendment, including the addition of two new parties, was objected to by all petitioners, the panel permitted it and the arbitration commenced shortly thereafter on October 3, 1994.

After a lengthy hearing, the panel issued an award against L&S, LTL, Lubin and Mitoric "jointly and severally” in the sum of $244,594, which was stated to be in addition to payments on the stock redemption already received by respondent (approximately $47,000). No explanation of the amount awarded, nor any apportionment of liability, nor any indication of which claims were sustained, was set forth in the award.

In maintaining that the award is irrational, petitioners point out that if sustained it will result in respondent receiving $350,000 on his $100,000 investment during a period of 14 months (a sum allegedly equal to 54% of the value of L&S at the time of redemption).

The principles to be applied in reviewing an arbitration award are set forth in Matter of Silverman (Benmor Coats) (61 NY2d 299, 308 [1984]): "Moreover, absent provision in the arbitration clause itself, an arbitrator is not bound by principles of substantive law or by rules of evidence * * * He may do justice as he sees it, applying his own sense of law and equity to the facts as he finds them to be and making an award reflecting the spirit rather than the letter of the agreement, even though the award exceeds the remedy requested by the parties * * * His award will not be vacated even though the court concludes that his interpretation of the agreement misconstrues or disregards its plain meaning or misapplies substantive rules of law, unless it is violative of a strong public policy, or is totally irrational, or exceeds a specifically enumerated limitation on his power”. (See also, Hackett v Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, 86 NY2d 146, 154-155 [1995]; Weidman v Fuchsberg, 177 AD2d 342 [1st Dept 1991].)

While petitioners assert numerous evidentiary errors purportedly committed by the arbitrators during the course of [295]*295the hearing, under the foregoing principles ^¡¡y,ch asserted errors are not subject to judicial review.

Nor does the mere fact that the arbitrators gave no explanation of their award state a ground for vacatur. "Where an award does not indicate how the amount awarded has been computed or that the arbitrator has included an element of damages specifically excluded by the contract, it cannot be concluded that the arbitrator exceeded his powers under the contract.” (Matter of Zeller & Goldschmidt v Cooper, Selvin & Strassberg, 167 AD2d 548 [2d Dept 1990].) Arbitrators are not required "to make detailed factual findings or specify the formula relied upon to reach their conclusions” (Matter of RRN Assocs. [Dak Elec. Contr. Corp.], 224 AD2d 250; see also, Imptex Intl. Corp. v Worldwide Fabrics, 194 AD2d 388 [2d Dept 1993]). Thus, while lack of a requirement that arbitrators give an explanation of their award may be a serious drawback to the arbitration process, that arbitrators decline to explain their decision does not, in itself, justify upsetting the award.

However, the court finds that the award must be set aside because (i) the arbitrators improperly added Mitoric as a party; (ii) exceeded their power by apparently imposing successor liability based on a claim of fraudulent conveyance, and (iii) made an indefinite award leaving parties unable to determine their respective rights and obligations.

The dispute is subject to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) (9 USC § 2), being that the parties were engaged in interstate commerce as L&S traded options both on the American Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Disputes among parties involved in the securities industry have been repeatedly held to be governed by the FAA (Matter of Salvano v Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, 85 NY2d 173, 180 [1995]; Singer v Jeffries & Co., 78 NY2d 76, 81 [1991]).

Here, when the respondent applied to amend its claim to add two new parties, Mitoric objected to being included. Although the basis of its objection is not clearly specified in the submitted papers, its objection should have been upheld as there is no claim that it is a party to any agreement with respondent.

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Bluebook (online)
168 Misc. 2d 291, 641 N.Y.S.2d 509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-arbitration-between-lubin-schlesinger-inc-scheinberg-nysupct-1996.