Whitehead v. Pullman Group — civil / arbitration — affirmance — Fuentes

How’s this for a lucid opening paragraph?

Singer-songwriters John Whitehead and Gene McFadden were “an integral part of the Philadelphia music
scene in the 1970s.” In 2002, appellant David Pullman
approached Whitehead and McFadden about purchasing their
song catalogue. The parties signed a contract but never
finalized the sale. Whitehead and McFadden passed away in
2004 and 2006, respectively, and Pullman became embroiled
in a series of disputes with their estates over ownership of the
song catalogue. The parties eventually agreed to arbitration.
Pullman, unhappy with the arbitral panel’s ruling, moved in
the District Court to vacate the arbitration award on the
ground that the panel had committed legal errors that made it
impossible for him to present a winning case. The District
Court denied Pullman’s motions, and Pullman now appeals.
Even if we were to agree with Pullman that the arbitrators
misapplied the law—and we do not—legal error alone is not a
sufficient basis to vacate the results of an arbitration.
Accordingly, we will affirm.

Joining Fuentes were Chagares and Greenberg. The case was decided without argument.

UPDATE: Nick Vadala of philly.com has the case backstory here.