Stage Directors and Choreographers Society v. Paradise Square Broadway Limited…
Stage Directors and Choreographers Society v. Paradise Square Broadway Limited Partnership
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:22-cv-06252
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Stage Directors v. Paradise Square, Judge Engelmayer treated an unopposed arbitration petition as summary judgment and allowed more submissions before ruling.
Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and Paradise Square Broadway Limited Partnership; the order required further submissions and service before the court decided whether to confirm the arbitration award.
What happened
Stage Directors and Choreographers Society asked the court to confirm and enforce an arbitration award against Paradise Square Broadway Limited Partnership. Paradise Square did not answer or appear, and the Society moved for default judgment.
The court said an unanswered petition to confirm an arbitration award is generally treated as an unopposed motion for summary judgment. But the court still had to review the Society’s evidence and could not grant relief without determining that no important factual dispute remained.
Judge Engelmayer did not yet decide whether to confirm the award. He granted the Society an opportunity to submit additional supporting materials, set deadlines for any opposition and reply, and required service of the order on Paradise Square.
The detailed version
- Stage Directors and Choreographers Society v. Paradise Square Broadway Limited… · No. 1:22-cv-06252
- Paul Engelmayer
- Oct. 6, 2022
Background
Stage Directors and Choreographers Society filed a petition seeking confirmation and enforcement of an arbitration award. The court noted that the action had been filed as a complaint but construed it as a petition to confirm arbitration because it met the applicable notice requirements and requested relief appropriate for such a petition.
The Society filed proof that Paradise Square Broadway Limited Partnership had been served. Paradise Square’s answer was due August 22, 2022, but it did not respond to the petition or otherwise appear. The Society then moved for default judgment. The court had ordered Paradise Square to enter a notice of appearance by October 4, 2022, but Paradise Square still did not appear.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that an unanswered petition to confirm or vacate an arbitration award is generally treated as an unopposed motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is a procedure for deciding a case without a trial when the evidence shows that no material—meaning legally important—fact is genuinely disputed.
The court emphasized that an unopposed motion cannot be granted automatically. Before granting it, the court must examine the petitioner’s submissions to determine whether the petitioner has met its burden of showing that no material factual issue remains. The absence of opposition does not relieve the petitioner of that burden.
The Society had submitted a joint stipulation prepared by the parties in place of an arbitration hearing and the arbitration award. The court did not state that these materials were sufficient to confirm the award at that stage.
Order and current status
The court granted the Society an opportunity to submit additional supporting materials by October 20, 2022. Any opposition from Paradise Square was due November 3, 2022, and any reply from the Society was due November 10, 2022. The Society also had to serve the order on Paradise Square and file proof of service by October 12, 2022.
The order did not confirm or enforce the arbitration award, and it did not grant the Society’s motion for default judgment. It instead set a further submission schedule before the court ruled on the petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.