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Following the rule applied in most federal circuits, a federal court in Missouri held that an interim arbitration award that finally disposes of an independent claim is subject to judicial review under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).
In Crawford Group, Inc. v. Holekamp, No. 4:06-CV-1247 CAS, 2007 WL 844819 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 19, 2007), Crawford Group, Inc. (CGI) arbitrated a dispute over the redemption price of stock held by Holekamp, a former employee of a CGI subsidiary. The parties agreed to a bifurcated arbitration proceeding, in which substantive issues would be settled before determining who would pay attorney fees.
CGI sought to have the interim award favoring Holekamp vacated. Holekamp argued that the § 10(a)(4) of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) only allows review of a final award. On the other hand, CGI argued that the fact that the interim award represented the final determination of a discrete issue allowed the Court to review the award.
The Court agreed with CGI and held that a court may treat an interim award issued in a bifurcated process as final if the award represents the final determination of a discrete issue and is not subject to change or revision by the arbitrators.
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