International Telepassport Corporation and Usf of South Florida, Inc., Petitioners-Appellees/cross-Appellants v. Usfi, Inc., Respondent-Appellant/cross-Appellee, 89 F.3d 82, 2d Cir. (1996)

89 F.
3d 82
INTERNATIONAL TELEPASSPORT CORPORATION and

USF of South
Florida, Inc., Petitioners-Appellees/Cross-Appellants,
v.
USFI, INC., Respondent-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
Nos. 1718, 2009, Dockets 95-9268, 95-9298.
United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.
Argued June 11, 1996.
Decided July 12, 1996.
Richard M. Zaroff, Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, Rosen &

Quentel, New York City (Elliot H. Scherker, Greenberg, Traurig,
Hoffman, Lipoff, Rosen & Quentel, P.A., Miami, FL, on the brief), for
Petitioners-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
George A. Bermann, New York City (Howard Graff, Baer Marks &
Upham LLP, New York City, on the brief), for RespondentAppellant/Cross-Appellee.
Before OAKES, ALTIMARI, and WALKER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Respondent USFI, Inc. appeals from an amended final judgment of the United
States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Richard Owen,
District Judge ), which confirmed an arbitration award in favor of petitioners
International Telepassport Corporation and USF of South Florida, Inc. (together
"ITC"). ITC cross-appeals from the district court's order that denied ITC's
motion for sanctions against USFI and its counsel. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
2
In May 1993, USFI and ITC entered into an Independent Representative
Agreement (the "Agreement") for ITC to solicit orders for and promote the sale
of USFI's "call back" system. This system allows customers in countries with
poor telephone services to route their international phone calls through the
United States by dialing an access number, hanging up, and receiving a call
back from the United States. The customer then has access to a United States
telephone line and is able to improve the quality of its international long
distance services, while achieving significant savings.
3
Under the Agreement, ITC was to market USFI's system in a number of Central
and South American countries, including Venezuela and Mexico. The
Agreement contained an arbitration clause that stated:
4
This
Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the
State of New York. Any dispute or controversy between the parties involving the
terms of this Agreement shall be settled by arbitration conducted under the rules of
the American Arbitration Association strictly in accordance with the substantive law
of the State of New York. The arbitration order shall be a final order and not
appealable. The arbitration panel shall determine the proportion of costs for such
arbitration to be borne by each party.
5
Over the next several months, ITC undertook efforts to market USFI's system
in both Venezuela and Mexico. In late 1993 and early 1994, a dispute between
ITC and USFI arose over USFI's installation of a newer version of its system at
several hotels in Mexico. ITC commenced an arbitration proceeding under the
Agreement, alleging that USFI was dealing with the hotels without going
through ITC, in violation of the Agreement. After hearings and post-hearing
briefing, the arbitrator issued an award in favor of ITC in the amount of
$322,500 in damages and $10,950 in arbitration fees. Because ITC's total outof-pocket damages were only $196,182, the award necessarily included an
award to ITC of damages for future profits lost.
On September 15, 1995, ITC filed a petition in the district court to confirm the
award. USFI moved to vacate the award on the ground that the arbitrator
exceeded his authority because New York law forbids an award of lost profits
damages to a new business such as ITC. On November 13, 1995, ITC crossmoved the court for sanctions against USFI and its counsel. In a November 22
order, the district court confirmed the award and denied both the motion to
vacate the award and the motion for sanctions. This appeal and cross-appeal
followed.
DISCUSSION
Federal courts may vacate an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration
Act, 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq., in relatively limited circumstances, including those
occasions in which the arbitrator has exceeded his authority or manifestly
disregarded the law. Carte Blanche (Singapore) Pte. v. Carte Blanche Int'l, 888
F.2d 260, 264-65 (2d Cir.1989). On appeal, USFI argues that the district court
should have vacated the award on both of these grounds because New York
substantive law, which governs the Agreement, "does not permit the award of
lost profits in the case of breaches of contract for new ventures." Brief of
Respondent-Appellant/Cross-Appellee at 21. In reviewing the district court's
confirmation of the award and denial of the motion to vacate, we "accept[ ]
findings of fact that are not 'clearly erroneous' but decid[e] questions of law de
novo." First Options v. Kaplan, --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 1920, 1926, 131
L.Ed.2d 985 (1995).
A district court should not vacate an arbitration award for manifest disregard
simply because of "error or misunderstanding with respect to the law." Merrill
Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Bobker, 808 F.2d 930, 933 (2d
Cir.1986). Instead, we require that the error be such that it was "obvious and
capable of being readily and instantly perceived by the average person qualified
to serve as an arbitrator. Moreover the term 'disregard' implies that the arbitrator
apprehended the existence of a clearly governing legal principle but decide[d]
to ignore or pay no attention to it." Id.
We agree with the district court that USFI cannot meet this standard. See
International TelePassport Corp. v. USFI, Inc., No. 95 Civ. 7920, slip op. at 3-5
(S.D.N.Y. Nov. 22, 1995). In Ashland Management, Inc. v. Janien, 82 N.Y.2d
395, 404, 604 N.Y.S.2d 912, 624 N.E.2d 1007 (1993), the New York Court of
Appeals reaffirmed that to obtain an award of lost profits, a plaintiff must
demonstrate that "(1) the damages were caused by the breach; (2) the alleged
loss [is] capable of proof with reasonable certainty[;] and (3) the particular
damages were within the contemplation of the parties to the contract at the time
it was made." The Court of Appeals went on to note that "in the case of a new
business seeking to recover loss of future profits, a stricter standard is imposed"
but pointed out that "[w]hether the claim involves an established business or a
new business ... the test remains the same, i.e., whether future profits can be
calculated with reasonable certainty." Id. Ashland Management does not
support USFI's claim that lost profits in the case of breaches of contracts for
new ventures are not permitted by New York law. To the contrary, Ashland
Management clearly contemplates the award of such damages in some
circumstances. USFI's urgings notwithstanding, we can discern no "clearly
governing legal principle" under New York law that such damages are
forbidden. Merrill Lynch, 808 F.2d at 933.
10
USFI also argues that the award of lost profits damages constituted a failure to
determine this dispute "strictly in accordance with the substantive law of the
State of New York," as required by the Agreement, and that therefore the
arbitrator exceeded his authority as limited by the terms of the arbitration
clause. We agree with USFI that the Court of Appeals repeatedly has
emphasized that lost profits damages are recoverable by a new business only if
more stringent requirements are met than in the case of an established business.
See, e.g., Ashland Management, 82 N.Y.2d at 404, 604 N.Y.S.2d 912, 624
N.E.2d 1007; Kenford Co. v. County of Erie, 67 N.Y.2d 257, 261, 502
N.Y.S.2d 131, 493 N.E.2d 234 (1986); see also Cramer v. Grand Rapids Show
Case Co., 223 N.Y. 63, 68-69, 119 N.E. 227 (1918). We are also aware that
there are no reported decisions since the Court of Appeals' decision in Cramer
that have affirmed the award of lost profits to a new business. See In re AllFlow, Inc., No. 94-CV-0134E(F), 1995 WL 591142, at * 9 (W.D.N.Y. Sept.11,
1995). Nonetheless, the new business rule is not a per se rule forbidding the
award of lost profits damages to new businesses, but rather an evidentiary rule
that creates a higher "level of proof needed to achieve reasonable certainty as to
the amount of damages." Travellers Int'l, A.G. v. Trans World Airlines, 41 F.3d
1570, 1579 (2d Cir.1994); see also In re All-Flow, 1995 WL 591142 at * 9
(noting that Kenford rejected per se rule against lost profits damage awards to
new businesses and instead addressed this as rule of evidence). Therefore, we
conclude that it was within the authority of the arbitrator to award lost profits
damages to ITC.
11
Perhaps realizing the futility of its argument, USFI urges us to apply a more
stringent level of review to the arbitrator's decision. USFI points to the
Agreement's instruction that the arbitrator should interpret the agreement
"strictly in accordance with the substantive law of the State of New York" and
argues, in substance, that we should review the arbitrator's award of lost profits
damages in the same manner as we would review a district court's award of
such damages. Even if there were a record of the arbitration proceedings before
us that would allow such review, and there is not, USFI's argument ignores the
Agreement's express statement that "[t]he arbitration order shall be a final order
and not appealable." We conclude, as a matter of law, that the parties did not
intend any review of the arbitrator's decision beyond that already provided by
the Federal Arbitration Act. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's grant of
the petition to confirm and its denial of the motion to vacate.
12
ITC cross-appeals the district court's denial of the motion for sanctions under
Fed.R.Civ.P. 11(c) and 28 U.S.C. 1927. We review the denial of such a
motion for abuse of discretion. MacDraw, Inc. v. CIT Group Equip. Fin., Inc.,
73 F.3d 1253, 1257 (2d Cir.1996). A legal argument under Rule 11 will result
in sanctions when " 'it [is] clear ... that there is no chance of success.' " Shafii v.
British Airways PLC, 83 F.3d 566, 570 (2d Cir.1996) (quoting Mareno v.
Rowe, 910 F.2d 1043, 1047 (2d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1028, 111
S.Ct. 681, 112 L.Ed.2d 673 (1991)). Similarly, a motion for sanctions against
an attorney under 1927 is only appropriate where the argument is " 'so
completely without merit as to require the conclusion that [it] must have been
undertaken for some improper purpose such as delay.' " Id. at 571 (quoting
Keller v. Mobil Corp., 55 F.3d 94, 99 (2d Cir.1995)). We acknowledge that the
positions taken by USFI and its counsel in this litigation border on violating
both of these standards, but we cannot conclude that those lines have been
crossed. Viewed charitably, USFI has made a barely non-frivolous argument
that the award of lost-profits was improper under New York law and the
Federal Arbitration Act. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of the
motion for sanctions.
13
After oral argument, counsel for USFI, without any discernable justification,
submitted a letter to this court pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 28(j) that reargued
issues already raised in USFI's briefs. Rule 28(j) authorizes letters to the court
after oral argument only when "pertinent and significant authorities come to the
attention of a party." We agree with ITC that USFI's letter does not even come
close to meeting the standard of Rule 28(j). Thus, pursuant to Fed. R. App. P.
39(a), we award costs to ITC on the appeal but deny similar costs to USFI on
the cross-appeal as a sanction. See Varda, Inc. v. Insurance Co. of N. Am., 45
F.3d 634, 640-41 (2d Cir.1995).
CONCLUSION
14
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court, award
costs to ITC on the appeal, and deny costs to USFI on the cross-appeal.

International Telepassport Corporation and Usf of South Florida, Inc., Petitioners-Appellees/cross-Appellants v. Usfi, Inc., Respondent-Appellant/cross-Appellee, 89 F.3d 82, 2d Cir. (1996)

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89 F.

INTERNATIONAL TELEPASSPORT CORPORATION and

United States Court of Appeals,

Richard M. Zaroff, Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, Rosen &

In May 1993, USFI and ITC entered into an Independent Representative

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