Justia Arbitration & Mediation Opinion Summaries

ItalFlavors filed suit against Caffe Vergnano, blaming the failure of an Italian cafe venture on Caffe Vergnano's failure to offer support. The parties had entered into an agreement, the Commercial Contract, which appears to be a franchise agreement setting forth the rights and responsibilities of the parties. The second agreement is the Hold Harmless Agreement. Caffe Vergnano filed a petition to compel arbitration and the district granted the petition. The court concluded that the declaration in the Hold Harmless Agreement signed contemporaneously with the Commercial Contract proves that the latter was a mere sham to help Hector Rabellino obtain a visa. Therefore, the court concluded that the Commercial Contract was not a contract and is thus unenforceable. Because the court found that the document the parties described as the Commercial Contract was a sham, the arbitration clause is no more enforceable than any other provision in that document. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment. View "Casa del Caffe Vergnano v. ItalFlavors, LLC" on Justia Law

Uthe filed suit against defendants, alleging a conspiracy to unlawfully take over one of Uthe’s overseas subsidiaries. In its original federal court action, Uthe brought claims for, inter alia, violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1961–68, against both defendants and foreign defendants. A Singapore arbitration resulted in an award against the foreign defendants. Afterwards, Uthe reinstated the present action against defendants requesting relief under RICO's treble damages provision. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, holding that an award of additional damages under RICO would violate the "one satisfaction" rule. The court held, however, that Uthe is entitled to seek treble damages under RICO against defendants because the arbitral award did not constitute full satisfaction of Uthe's pre-existing RICO claim. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "UTHE Tech. Corp. v. Aetrium, Inc." on Justia Law