Inside Move: Ovitz judge changes mind
Lucas never disclosed that he was to act as arbitrator
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A judge has vacated an arbitrator's award to Ovitz of $3.6 million that stemmed from an employment dispute with Schulman. L.A. Superior Court Judge Ralph Dau set aside the award this week on grounds that the arbitrator, Campbell Lucas, did not properly disclose that he had agreed to act as an arbitrator on an unrelated case involving Ovitz's attorneys while still handling the Ovitz-Schulman matter.
Setting aside an arbitration award is unusual, and failure to disclose a conflict is one of the few grounds for doing so.
"The California Superior Court vacated the arbitration award because of what the court found to be a clear conflict of interest by the arbitrator that violated the ethics standards governing private arbitrations," said Schulman attorney Randy Sunshine. "It's as if (the arbitration) never happened."
A spokesman for Ovitz countered, "This decision has nothing to do with the underlying merits of the arbitration decision, which completely vindicated APG and dismissed Ms. Schulman's claims as groundless and vexatious .... The judge acknowledged that his decision was appropriate for appellate review, and we look forward to the day when that occurs."
Schulman sued Ovitz in 2002, claiming she was fired after revealing to StudioCanal that funds earmarked for a joint venture had been diverted to other projects. Ovitz moved to compel arbitration, claiming Schulman violated a settlement agreement, continued to interfere on APG projects and was the source of a spate of negative articles claiming StudioCanal pulled out of its joint venture with APG because of accounting irregularities.
