JPMorgan Chase Bank v. KB Home Nevada Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Meritage Homes of Nevada appeals the district court’s order denying its motion to partially vacate a final arbitration award in favor of Plaintiff-Appellee Focus South Group, LLC. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

The arbitration panel’s denial of Meri-tage’s counterclaim against South Edge, LLC was not in manifest disregard of the law. See Kyocera Corp. v. Prudential-Bache Trade Servs., Inc., 341 F.3d 987 , 994 (9th Cir.2003) (en banc) (“Neither erroneous legal conclusions nor unsubstantiated factual findings justify federal court review of an arbitral award under the [Federal Arbitration Act].”); Health Plan of Nev., Inc. v. Rainbow Med., LLC, 120 Nev. 689 , 100 P.3d 172, 179 (2004) (“Manifest disregard of the law goes beyond whether the law was correctly interpreted, it encompasses a conscious disregard of applicable law.”). It is not clear that the legal principle Meritage contends the arbitrators ignored exists. See Graber v. Comstock Bank, 111 Nev. 1421 , 905 P.2d 1112, 1115 (1995) (“[T]he term ‘disregard’ implies that the arbitrator appreciates the existence of a clearly governing legal principle but decides…