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A federal district court in Texas held that an arbitrator did not engage in misconduct for refusing to allow a party to call witnesses where the party did not submit a witness list on time and repeatedly failed to attend arbitration hearings.
In Biobased Systems, L.L.C. v. Biobased of South Texas, L.L.C., No. H-06-2149, 2006 WL 3044464 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 20, 2006), Biobased Systems (Biobased) and Biobased of South Texas (BST) entered into an agreement whereby BST would act as a distributor for Biobased. Following arbitration of a payment dispute, the arbitrator awarded Biobased $162,947.57.
Biobased filed a motion to confirm the arbitration award. In opposition, BST filed a motion to vacate the award, arguing that the arbitrator was guilty of misconduct for refusing to allow BST to call witnesses.
The Court found that the arbitrator was not guilty of misconduct in refusing to allow BST to call witnesses because BST failed to submit a witness list on time and repeatedly failed to attend hearings. Also, as the Court noted, the arbitrator did consider BST’s written submissions. Since there was no arbitrator misconduct, the Court confirmed the award.
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