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A Florida federal judge has vacated an order confirming an arbitration award in a shareholder dispute involving Venezuela's Avior Airlines, due to a key party not being properly served with notice of the judgment. The ruling concerns an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration award regarding the ownership of Avior Airlines CA.

Judge Overturns Arbitration Award Confirmation

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II accepted the recommendation of a magistrate judge to vacate a previous order that confirmed the ICC arbitral award in favor of Luis Suarez, Moises Maionica, and Carlos Kauffmann. The trio had claimed they collectively owned 50% of Avior Airlines. However, respondent Jorge Añez Dager, who was central to the dispute, was not served with notice of the suit until 29 days after the final judgment was issued on Sept. 27, 2023.

Judge Ruiz emphasized that failure to vacate the judgment under these circumstances would deprive Añez of fundamental procedural due process rights, specifically the rights to notice and an opportunity to be heard. "Indeed, given respondent's allegations of improper final award modification, the court's refusal to vacate the final judgment under these circumstances would amount to a deprivation of respondent's core procedural due process guarantees," Ruiz wrote.

Avior Airlines Arbitration Nixed  : Attorney Fees Request Denied as Premature

In addition to vacating the order, Judge Ruiz denied the petitioners' request for attorney fees related to the confirmation of the arbitration award, deeming the request premature.

Dispute Background: Shareholder Claims

The dispute dates back to an arbitration initiated in December 2019 by Suarez, Maionica, and Kauffmann. They sought a declaration that they were entitled to 50% ownership of Avior Airlines, asserting that a stock purchase agreement required Añez to buy their shares for $37.5 million and pay interest on the sale price. In February 2023, the ICC ruled that Suarez, Maionica, and Kauffmann should be reinstated as shareholders and ordered Añez to comply with the shareholders' agreement, including payment of $119,096.80.

Despite this ruling, Añez allegedly failed to comply with the award, prompting the three shareholders to file a petition on Sept. 12, 2023, seeking to enforce the decision.

Avior Airlines Arbitration Nixed : Legal Representation

Suarez, Maionica, and Kauffmann are represented by Lissette Garcia and Moises Thomas Grayson of Blaxberg Grayson PA. Añez is represented by Francisco A. Rodriguez, Alexis D. Hammond, and Ana Rosa Ulseth of Reed Smith LLP.