United States Fourth Circuit

In case arising from defendant's failure to pay a credit card balance and one plaintiff suing her in state court, resulting in defendant's class-action counterclaims and a suit in federal court to compel arbitration of counterclaims, denial of defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and stay of state-court counterclaims pending arbitration is affirmed as a federal question exists and the district court properly compelled arbitration.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/13/2007
• Published 06/13/2007

Judges

• Before WILKINSON and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and JOSEPH R. GOODWIN, United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  John Andrew Mattingly, Jr., Baldwin, Briscoe & Mattingly, Chtd., Lexington Park, Maryland, for Appellant.  Martin C. Bryce, Jr., Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Joseph W. Hovermill, Matthew T. Wagman, John C. Celeste, Miles & Stockbridge, P.C., Baltimore, Maryland;  Alan S. Kaplinsky, Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Appellees.  Sara A. Kelsey, General Counsel, Richard J. Osterman, Jr., Assistant General Counsel, Colleen J. Boles, Senior Counsel, Kathleen V. Gunning, Counsel, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Arlington, Virginia, for Amicus Curiae Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  F. Paul Bland, Jr., Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Washington, D.C.;  J. Jerome Hartzell, Hartzell & Whiteman, L.L.P., Raleigh, North Carolina;  Carlene McNulty, North Carolina Justice Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Amici Curiae John R. Kucan, Jr., and Terry Coates.