Opinion ID: 728072
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Meaning of the District Court's Judgment

Text: 16 During the course of oral argument before this court, a question arose as to why this action had been brought by Baltia. The consulting contract that gave rise to the disputed arbitration award expired years ago, on May 1, 1991, so it was unclear to the court what was at stake. Baltia's counsel explained that her client sought relief from judgment because, even today, officials at TMI continue to demand commissions whenever Baltia pursues business financing arrangements. According to counsel, TMI's harassing tactics have made it all but impossible for Baltia to secure financing. 17 In response, counsel for TMI did not deny the substance of Baltia's contentions. Indeed, TMI's attorney made the astonishing claim that the arbitration award, and the District Court's judgment confirming it, give TMI a right in perpetuity to commissions on any financing obtained by Baltia, i.e., from any source, at any time for the life of the corporation! And counsel added that Baltia is obliged to pay commissions even though TMI is doing absolutely nothing to assist Baltia, and has no obligation under the contract to do anything. After listening to TMI's counsel, and the absurd position that he advanced, 5 it was easy to understand why Baltia had returned to the District Court for relief. 18 Although it cannot obtain relief under Rule 60(b), Baltia does not leave this litigation empty handed. TMI's position evinces a flagrant distortion of the District Court's judgment. If nothing else, we can confirm for Baltia that TMI's position is groundless and that the rulings in this case pose no danger for Baltia in the future. The District Court never held that TMI is entitled to commissions in perpetuity; indeed, the arbitrator never held that TMI has such a right, and the contract between the parties cannot support such a claim. The only language in the contract cited by TMI in support of its astounding assertion of perpetual commissions, paragraph II.B, 6 simply means that any right to commissions that arose during the term of the contract may be enforced after the expiration of the contract. TMI could cite no authority whatsoever for any other reading of this provision, and the arbitrator's award does not even cite this paragraph of the contract, so it would be ridiculous to think that the arbitrator or the District Court meant to endorse a different construction of the contract. 19 In short, TMI can make no claims against Baltia for commissions on any transactions beyond the term of their expired agreement. Since the parties' contract has now long expired, the only possible financing to which [321 U.S.App.D.C. 195] the arbitration award could apply is the alleged Waterford financing reported by the New York Times in June 1991. As Baltia has represented that no financing was ever obtained from Waterford, the arbitration award would appear to be worthless.