Plaintiff Not Entitled to Stay of Arbitration

On November 27, 2018, the First Department issued a decision in New 110 Cipriani Units, LLC v. Board of Mgrs. of 110 E 42nd St. Condominium, 2018 NY Slip Op. 08096, affirming a refusal to stay an arbitration, explaining:

The court properly considered plaintiff's motion pursuant to CPLR 6301 for a preliminary injunction as an application pursuant to CPLR 503 to stay arbitration, since plaintiff's primary purpose was to avoid arbitration.

Contrary to plaintiff's contention, its claims fall clearly within the class of claims that the parties agreed to arbitrate. Indeed, plaintiff's claims are actually defenses to the claims asserted by defendants in the arbitration, rather than, as plaintiff contends, threshold claims beyond the scope of the arbitration agreement.

(Internal citations omitted).

Commercial litigation involves more than courts. Disputes often are--by agreement--decided by private arbitrators. Contact Schlam Stone & Dolan partner John Lundin at jlundin@schlamstone.com if you or a client have a question regarding a dispute that is subject to an arbitration agreement.