ARW Exploration Corp. v. Aguirre
| Citation | 947 F.2d 450 |
| Decision Date | 22 October 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-6064,91-6064 |
| Parties | Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 96,473 ARW EXPLORATION CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cesar V. AGUIRRE, Anastasios Andriopoulos, Charles E. Bender, B.W. Covington, Chris Dalamangas, P. Delaportas, George Ioannides, Kyriakos Ioannides, V. Kaltsas, Christos P. Kartsonis, Demetrios Kartsonis, A. George Magouliotis, A. Papathanasopolous, Steve Poulos, S.L. Prabhu, Ponnapalli Ramakrishna, Neal Roth, Dorothy Roychoudhury, S.L. Stogiannis, and G. Vallianos, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit) |
Karen L. Howick and Anita M. Moorman, of Karen L. Howick & Associates, Oklahoma City, Okl., for plaintiff-appellant.
Bruce W. Day, Rodney J. Heggy and Stuart W. Emmons, of Day Hewett & Federman, Oklahoma City, Okl., for defendants-appellees.
Before ANDERSON, BARRETT and TACHA, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 10th Cir.R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
Plaintiff-Appellant ARW Exploration Corporation (ARW) appeals from a district court order declining to exercise jurisdiction, under 28 U.S.C. § 2201, to entertain ARW's declaratory judgment action. ARW argues that the district court abused its discretion in declining to exercise jurisdiction. Defendants-Appellees (the investors) contend that the appeal is moot. We conclude the appeal (except for one issue) is not moot and that the district court abused its discretion in part. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
ARW and twenty investors are parties to oil and gas ventures in Oklahoma. Their relationship is governed by several Joint Venture Agreements that provide for arbitration of certain disputes.
Six of the twenty investors petitioned the District Court for Pawnee County, Oklahoma (state court), to appoint a receiver. The investors alleged that ARW had grossly mismanaged the properties and violated the Joint Venture Agreement. ARW responded by moving to compel arbitration of the claims raised in the petition.
The state court agreed that the claims were subject to arbitration. The court denied the petition for appointment of a receiver and granted ARW's motion to compel arbitration in an order providing "that arbitration be conducted concerning the matters raised in the Petition and in the Amended Petition 1 in accordance with the parties' Joint Venture Agreement and Title 15 O.S.1981 § 801 et seq. [sic] and that this Court retains jurisdiction to approve any arbitration award and for such other matters allowed in law or equity." Addendum to Appellant's Brief, Ex. 2. Soon after issuance of this order, the six investors dismissed the action without prejudice. Addendum to Appellant's Reply Brief, Ex. A.
The six state court plaintiffs and fourteen additional investors then filed with the Florida office of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) a complaint containing five counts: (1) violations of federal and state securities laws for fraudulent sale of securities; (2) violation of state securities laws for failure to register; (3) violations of the Florida Civil Remedies for Criminal Practices Act; (4) common law fraud; and (5) breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. Supplemental Appendix to Answer Brief of Appellees, pp. 29-31.
ARW responded by filing a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, seeking (1) a determination of the arbitrability of the claims contained in the AAA complaint; (2) a declaration that the claims are not arbitrable; (3) a declaration that any decision by an arbitrator on those claims would be null and void and not binding on ARW; (4) an order directing that venue of any arbitrable claims be in Oklahoma rather than Florida; and (5) an order enjoining the investors from proceeding further in the Florida arbitration with respect to the five claims. Appendix to Principal Brief of Appellant, p. 6.
The investors moved the federal district court to compel ARW to arbitrate all disputes. ARW responded by conceding that arbitration was proper on the breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract claim, but not on the other four claims. The federal district court dismissed ARW's complaint on the ground that the state court had issued a valid and binding order compelling arbitration and the federal district court did not want to make itself available for the "loser" 2 in the previous action to circumvent other orders. The federal court characterized ARW's complaint as "an apparent preemptive strike" that sought to avoid the consequences of the state court order, relying on American Fidelity & Casualty Co. v. Service Oil Co., 164 F.2d 478, 480 (4th Cir.1947) (quoting Aetna Casualty & Sur. Co. v. Quarles, 92 F.2d 321, 325 (4th Cir.1937)), for the proposition that a district court should not exercise its jurisdiction to decide a declaratory judgment action if doing so would "interfere with an action that [sic] has already been instituted." Addendum to Appellant's Brief, Ex. 3.
After issuance of the federal court's order, the AAA determined, on February 4, 1991, that the proper arbitration locale was Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and transferred the case accordingly. Addendum to Answer Brief of Appellees, Ex. A. On March 8, 1991, the investors filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida containing essentially the same claims as the first four claims alleged in the AAA complaint. Addendum to Appellant's Brief, Ex. 4.
The investors contend that this appeal is moot because they are no longer seeking arbitration of the first four claims (those claims that ARW argues are not arbitrable), but rather have commenced a court action to resolve these claims (the action filed in the Florida federal court), and because the AAA transferred venue of the arbitration to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ARW responds that the investors have yet to obtain service of process of the Florida federal district court complaint upon ARW, that they could dismiss the Florida action at any time, and that they have refused to dismiss the first four claims of their complaint in the arbitration proceeding. 3 ARW makes no argument that the question of proper venue of the arbitrable claims is not moot.
This court will dismiss an appeal as moot, "when pending an appeal from the judgment of a lower court, ... an event occurs which renders it impossible ... to grant [plaintiff] any effectual relief whatever, ..." FDIC v. Jennings, 816 F.2d 1488, 1490 (10th Cir.1987) (quoting Mills v. Green, 159 U.S. 651, 653, 16 S.Ct. 132, 133, 40 L.Ed. 293 (1895)). The question, then, is whether the investors' filing of the complaint in the Florida federal district court and their claimed decision not to seek arbitration of those claims is "an event ... which renders it impossible ... to grant any effectual relief whatever...."
The voluntary cessation of objectionable conduct does not, as a general rule, render a case moot. The party contending the case is moot has a heavy burden of demonstrating that there is no reasonable expectation the conduct will be repeated. Blinder, Robinson & Co. v. SEC, 692 F.2d 102, 106-07 (10th Cir.1982). In Blinder, an action to enjoin an SEC investigation was held not moot where, although all subpoenas had been adjourned and the SEC represented that it had concluded its investigation, the SEC had not withdrawn its formal order of investigation and would not concede it would not use the order beyond the enforcement action then pending. Id. at 104, 106. The court noted that the SEC could, at its election, resume the investigation within the four corners of its outstanding investigative order. Id. at 106.
Here, to our knowledge, the investors have not dismissed with prejudice the first four claims of the arbitration complaint, nor have they filed an amended arbitration complaint that eliminates these claims. The investors thus have not met their heavy burden of demonstrating there is no reasonable expectation they will not again attempt to arbitrate the disputed claims. We therefore conclude that ARW's appeal is not moot with respect to the question of the arbitrability of the first four claims. Because ARW has not argued to the contrary, we conclude the appeal is moot with respect to the question of the proper venue of the arbitrable claims.
We next address ARW's argument that the district court abused its discretion...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
U.S. v. City of Las Cruces
...over a declaratory judgment action will not be overturned absent a clear abuse of discretion. See ARW Exploration Corp. v. Aguirre, 947 F.2d 450, 453-54 (10th Cir.1991); see also Wilton v. Seven Falls Co., 515 U.S. 277, 289-90, 115 S.Ct. 2137, 132 L.Ed.2d 214 (1995). On review, this court s......
-
Young v. Hartford Cas. Ins. Co.
...state proceeding. See United States v. City of Las Cruces, 289 F.3d 1170, 1183 (10th Cir. 2002) (citing ARW Exploration Corp. v. Aguirre, 947 F.2d 450, 454 (10th Cir. 1991) ). In St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. Runyon, 53 F.3d at 1168, the plaintiff, an insurance company, sought a decl......
-
Valdez v. Metro. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.
...pending state proceeding. See United States v. City of Las Cruces, 289 F.3d 1170, 1183 (10th Cir.2002) (citing ARW Exploration Corp. v. Aguirre, 947 F.2d 450, 454 (10th Cir.1991)). In St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. v. Runyon, the plaintiff, an insurance company, sought a declaratory......
-
Pueblo of Pojoaque v. Biedscheid
... ... Corp., 564 U.S. 29 (2011)). Although Pojoaque Pueblo and ... Buffalo Thunder purport to request ... City of Las Cruces, 289 F.3d 1170, 1183 (10th Cir ... 2002)(citing ARW Exploration Corp. v. Aguirre, 947 ... F.2d 450, 454 (10th Cir. 1991)) ... In ... ...