Opinion ID: 3020021
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issues

Text: In its order dated January 24, 2005, the District Court dismissed with prejudice Telcordia’s petition based on the D.C. Circuit’s decision. Specifically, the District Court held that: Telcordia’s Petition is dismissed with prejudice because principles of issue preclusion or estoppel do not permit it to relitigate the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Telcordia Technologies, Inc. v. Telkom SA, Limited (No. 03-7099, issued on April 9, 2004), which upheld the dismissal of Telcordia’s petition to confirm the same arbitration award pursuant to Article VI of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (see 9 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq.) (the “Convention”). In so ruling, this Court does not reach the merits of the parties’ underlying dispute. The D.C. Circuit’s decision, however, was that the proceeding should be adjourned pursuant to Article VI of the New York Convention. More concretely, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the petition without prejudice. For Telkom to be able to piggyback a dismissal without prejudice into a dismissal with prejudice is anathema to the “wait-and-see” raison d’être of Article VI. Although we agree with Telkom that the decision is still pending in South Africa, given the fact that the case is currently working its way through 11 South Africa’s appeals process, the fact that Telcordia prematurely brought a case for enforcement in New Jersey should not predetermine its ability to ever bring a case in New Jersey, as would be the case if the dismissal was on the merits.8 Put another way, this case would be very different if, for example, the D.C. Circuit had ruled pursuant to Article V and refused to enforce the award. Such a decision would likely constitute a decision on the merits entitled to preclusive import. That is not the case here. The D.C. Circuit opinion relied on Article VI rather than Article V. Telkom’s allegations of forum-shopping by Telcordia do not change the analysis. First, the D.C. Circuit did not mention a desire to maintain any type of control over the proceeding, as would be the case if it decided to adjourn by issuing a stay - a possibility under Article VI that was recognized by the D.C. Circuit yet not exercised. Telcordia Technologies, Inc. v. Telkom SA, Limited (No. 03-7099, issued on April 9, 2004) (noting that “we construe ‘adjourn’ to mean stay or dismiss without prejudice, we affirm the district court on the ground that the court’s dismissal was proper under Article VI”). As such, the filing of the petition in New Jersey does not take the case out of the control of another court and, therefore, does not constitute a type of forum-shopping that would justify remediation by this 8 This Court’s decision in Pastewka v. Texaco Inc., 565 F.2d 851 (3d Cir. 1977), which Telkom argues is controlling, is inapposite to the instant case. In Pastewka, the District Court for the Southern District of New York had dismissed plaintiffs’ suits on forum non conveniens grounds in favor of adjudication in England. When the plaintiffs tried to bring the same suits in Delaware and were unable to point to any “objective fact establishing that, unlike New York, Delaware would be a more convenient forum than England” this Court dismissed the complaints. Unlike here, the plaintiffs in Pastewka were precluded from bringing their suit in New York. Here, it is undisputed that Telcordia could rebring the petition in the D.C. District Court once a set of events have passed. 12 Court. Second, to prohibit Telcordia from bringing a claim based solely on allegations of forum-shopping ignores the maxim that courts generally defer to a plaintiff’s choice of forum. Jumara v. State Farm Ins. Co., 55 F.3d 873, 880 (3d Cir. 1995). As such, the District Court’s dismissal with prejudice is reversed.