Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber and Plastic Co. Ltd. v. Global Syn-Turf, Inc.
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:21-cv-10674
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber v. Global Syn-Turf, Judge Engelmayer allowed more evidence and set briefing after treating the unopposed default-judgment motion as summary judgment.
Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber and Plastic Co. Ltd. and Global Syn-Turf, Inc.
What happened
Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber and Plastic Co. Ltd. asked the court to confirm an arbitration award against Global Syn-Turf, Inc. Global Syn-Turf was served but did not answer or otherwise appear. Hebei then asked for a default judgment.
The court said an unanswered request to confirm an arbitration award should generally be treated as an unopposed request for summary judgment. That means the court still had to examine Hebei’s evidence and could not grant relief automatically just because Global Syn-Turf had not responded.
The court did not yet decide whether to confirm the award. It gave Hebei until August 16, 2022, to submit additional supporting materials, set deadlines for Global Syn-Turf’s opposition and Hebei’s reply, and ordered Hebei to serve the order. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the order.
The detailed version
- Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber and Plastic Co. Ltd. v. Global Syn-Turf, Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-10674
- Paul Engelmayer
- Aug. 10, 2022
Background
On December 14, 2021, Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber and Plastic Co. Ltd. filed a petition asking the court to confirm an arbitral award. Hebei later filed proof stating that Global Syn-Turf, Inc. had been served on April 18, 2022. Global Syn-Turf did not file an answer or otherwise appear. At the court’s direction, Hebei moved for default judgment.
Court’s analysis
The court relied on Second Circuit authority stating that an unanswered petition to confirm or vacate an arbitration award should generally be treated as an unopposed motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is a procedure for deciding whether the moving party’s evidence shows that no material factual dispute requires a trial. Even when the opposing party submits no evidence, the moving party must first meet its burden of production.
Hebei had submitted a memorandum of law, the contract between the parties, the final arbitral award, and other materials relating to the award. The court nevertheless treated the motion as one for summary judgment rather than granting default judgment automatically.
Order
The court granted Hebei the opportunity to submit additional supporting materials by August 16, 2022. Global Syn-Turf’s opposition, if any, was due August 30, 2022, and Hebei’s reply, if any, was due September 6, 2022. Hebei also had to serve the order on Global Syn-Turf and file an affidavit reflecting that service by August 15, 2022.
This order did not decide whether the arbitral award should be confirmed. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer entered the order on August 10, 2022.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.