Recipient Of Arbitration Award In Reinsurance Dispute Permitted Discovery Of Funds Withheld Account

Carlton Fields
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Plaintiffs secured an interim arbitration award in the amount of $7.8 million, plus interest, in what the court described as a complex insurance/reinsurance program. Seeking to collect on the award, plaintiffs served a subpoena on a third party which allegedly owed funds to the judgment debtor evidenced by a liability set up on its books in a funds withheld account. The recipient of the subpoena moved to quash the subpoena. The court held that the holder of the arbitration award was entitled to conduct discovery reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of assets of the judgment debtor. The court found that it was undisputed that the funds listed on the books of the recipient of the subpoena were identified as a liability owed to the judgment debtor. The court enforced the subpoena, ordering the recipient of the subpoena to respond to the subpoena, and entered a “restraining notice” preventing the subpoena’s recipient from transferring the funds or taking them for its own use. The court did not find that the judgment debtor was entitled to the funds in the funds withheld account. That issue will be resolved later, if necessary. Amtrust North America, Inc. v. Preferred Contractors Insurance Co. Risk Retention Group, Case No. 15-7505 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Oct. 18, 2016)


 

 

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