Court Opinion

ID: 9383143
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-29 18:00:34.756284+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:43.913416
License: Public Domain

Case: 21-60802         Document: 00516693195             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/29/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                                                                      United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                               Fifth Circuit

                                      ____________                                           FILED
                                                                                       March 29, 2023
                                       No. 21-60802                                     Lyle W. Cayce
                                      ____________                                           Clerk

   Eileen N. Shaffer, Chapter 7 Trustee for the Bankruptcy
   Estate of Debtors Danny & Judy Hall,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   PriorityOne Bank,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Southern District of Mississippi
                                USDC No. 3:15-CV-304
                      ______________________________

   Before Davis, Elrod, and Haynes, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
          The opinion issued March 9, 2023, is withdrawn by the panel, and the
   following is issued in its place:
          Acting as trustee of a bankruptcy estate, Eileen Shaffer received a
   favorable arbitration award against PriorityOne Bank. The Bank sought to
   vacate that award in the district court, arguing that the arbitrator had a

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 21-60802     Document: 00516693195          Page: 2   Date Filed: 03/29/2023

                                   No. 21-60802

   conflict of interest. The district court held that even though the arbitrator
   did have a conflict, the Bank had constructive knowledge of that conflict and
   therefore had waived any ability to challenge the award on that
   ground. Having considered the briefing, oral argument, and relevant
   portions of the record, we conclude that the district court did not commit a
   reversible error in refusing to vacate the award on conflict-of-interest
   grounds.
          The district court also held that the Bank’s argument that the
   arbitrator manifestly disregarded Mississippi law cannot stand as a
   permissible statutory ground for vacatur under the Federal Arbitration Act.
   Even assuming without deciding that manifest disregard of the law can be a
   basis for challenging an award under the FAA as an argument that an
   arbitrator “exceeded his powers” under 9 U.S.C. § 10(a), the Bank fails to
   show that the arbitration award was in manifest disregard of Mississippi law.
          For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM. PriorityOne Bank’s
   petition for panel rehearing is DENIED as moot.

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