A federal judge in Washington has rejected the defense contractor DynCorp Aerospace Technology's efforts to block the confirmation of a $1.4 million arbitration award stemming from a contract dispute with a company in Qatar.
Judge Reggie Walton of Washington's federal trial court said in a Jan. 21 opinion he doesn’t have authority to refuse to recognize the award, which stems from a dispute between DynCorp and the International Trading and Industrial Investment Co.
DynCorp in 1998 appointed International Trading to establish and maintain a licensed branch office in Qatar. International Trading helped the contractor secure licenses and permits. More background on the case is here.
Central to the dispute between the companies is the duration of the contract, which was written in Arabic and English. The highest court in Qatar sided with DynCorp, saying the agreement went against Qatari law. That court vacated the arbitration award. DynCorp’s lawyers at DLA Piper urged Walton to defer to the Qatari court and block enforcement of the award.
Walton’s 27-page opinion examines and dismisses DynCorp’s allegations the arbitrator showed a “manifest disregard of the law” in reviewing the agreement between the two companies. Walton in December orally ruled in favor of International Trading. He said in the opinion that the issues in the case deserved a “more thorough written analysis and explanation.”
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