Opinion
Civil Case No. 05-cv-02662-REB-BNB.
March 22, 2006
ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST J.J.B. HILLIARD, W.L. LYONS, INC. PENDING ARBITRATION
This matter is before me on the Joint Motion to Stay Proceedings Against J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc. Pending Arbitration [#6], filed February 8, 2006. The plaintiff and defendant, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc., ask that proceedings against defendant, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc. be stayed because the plaintiff and this defendant have agreed to arbitrate this dispute. There is no indication that the other defendants have agreed to arbitrate this dispute. None of the defendants has filed a response to the motion. I grant the motion pro tanto. 9 U.S.C. § 3, part of the Federal Arbitration Act, provides,
If any suit or proceeding be brought in any of the courts of the United States upon any issue referable to arbitration under an agreement in writing for such arbitration, the court in which such suit is pending, upon being satisfied that the issue involved in such suit or proceeding is referable to arbitration under such an agreement, shall on application of one of the parties stay the trial of the action until such arbitration has been had in accordance with the terms of the agreement, providing the applicant for the stay is not in default in proceeding with such arbitration.
Under 9 U.S.C. § 4, the court "shall make an order directing the parties to proceed to arbitration in accordance with the terms" of an agreement to arbitrate a dispute if "the making of the agreement for arbitration or the failure to comply therewith is not in issue . . ." See also, Shearson/American Express, Inc. v. McMahon, 482 U.S. 220, 226 (1987) (holding that Section 3 of the FAA provides that a court "must stay its proceedings if it is satisfied that an issue before it is arbitrable under the agreement"). There is a strong federal policy favoring arbitration of disputes. Cone Mem'l Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp., 460 U.S. 1, 23 n. 27 (1983).
THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. That the Joint Motion to Stay Proceedings Against J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc. Pending Arbitration [#6], filed February 8, 2006, is GRANTED;
2. That under 9 U.S.C. § 4, plaintiff, Dane Kirkpatrick, and defendant, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc., are ORDERED to proceed to arbitration under the terms of the agreement to arbitrate between plaintiff and defendant, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc.;
3. That under 9 U.S.C. § 3, proceedings against defendant J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc. in this case shall be STAYED pending completion of arbitration under the applicable agreement;
4. That the stay is NOT APPLICABLE to proceedings against the other defendants, who apparently are not parties to the arbitration agreement;
5. That plaintiff and defendant, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc., SHALL FILE a status report indicating the status of the arbitration and the anticipated date of its completion on or before July 24, 2006, and every 120 days thereafter, until the arbitration is complete; and
6. That within ten (10) days of the completion of the arbitration, the parties SHALL FILE a statement with the court stating that the arbitration has been completed, describing the results of the arbitration, and indicating what, if any, further action each party intends to take in this case.