Benworth’S Motion To Correct The Final Award

Source document: Benworth’S Motion To Correct The Final Award; document type: Arbitration motion (to correct final award, JAMS Rule 24(k)).

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EXHIBIT 1
Case 3:23-cv-01034-GMM     Document 117-1     Filed 06/20/24     Page 1 of 4

JAMS ARBITRATION
JAMS REF. NO. 1210038203

BENWORTH’S MOTION TO CORRECT THE FINAL AWARD
JAMS served the Final Award in favor of Claimant/Counter-Respondent, Oto Analytics,
Inc. d/b/a Womply (“Womply”) on June 11, 2024. The Arbitrator awarded Womply “Finance
Charges calculated at 10% per annum simple interest until paid, which as of May 31, 2024 are
$25,387,670.50.” (Final Award at 73 (emphasis added).) As a matter of California law, Womply’s
entitlement to finance charges ceased on the date the Final Award was made, May 30, 2024, (see
id. at 2). The Final Award thus contains a computational error because it awards Womply an
additional day of finance charges and purports to extend Womply’s entitlement to finance charges
until the Final Award is paid. Accordingly, Respondent/Counter-Claimant Benworth Capital
Partners, LLC (“Benworth”), pursuant to JAMS Rule 24(k), moves the Arbitrator to correct these
computational errors in the Final Award.
ARGUMENT
Under California law, an “arbitration award” is “the contractual equivalent of a judgment”
in favor of Womply. Britz, Inc. v. Alfa-Laval Food & Dairy Co., 34 Cal. App. 4th 1085, 1107
(1995); see also In re Ter Bush, 273 B.R. 625, 628 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 2002) (collecting California
Oto Analytics, Inc. d/b/a Womply,

Claimant/Counter-Respondent,

v.

Benworth Capital Partners, LLC,

Respondent/Counter-Claimant.
_______________________________________/
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cases supporting the proposition that “an unconfirmed arbitration award is viewed as the equivalent
of a final judgment”). “The arbitration award itself resulted in a new and fixed liability.” Britz, 34
Cal. App. 4th at 1107. Because an arbitration award establishes a new and fixed liability, California
courts distinguish between pre-award interest and post-award, pre-judgment interest.
For post-award, pre-judgment interest, the prevailing party is limited to recovering interest
under Section 3287. See, e.g., id. at 1106-07 (explaining that Section 3287 governs the rate of
prejudgment interest from the date the arbitrator renders his award); Pierotti v. Torian, 81 Cal.
App. 4th 17, 27-28 (2000) (holding that post-award, pre-judgment interest is governed by section
3287); Tenzera, Inc. v. Osterman, 205 Cal. App. 4th 16, 21 (2012) (“Section 3287 applies to
arbitration awards.”); see also Glassman v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 90 Cal. App. 5th 1281, 1325
(2023) (“A successful party to an arbitration may be entitled to post-award, prejudgment interest
under section 3287(a).”). In such cases, the “California rate for prejudgment interest is 7%.” See
Riley v. QuantumScape Corp., 2023 WL 1475092, * 18-19 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 2, 2023) (awarding
post-award, pre-judgment interest at rate of 7% in accordance with section 3287). Moreover, for
arbitral awards subject to confirmation or vacatur in federal court under the Federal Arbitration
Act, like the Final Award, the post-judgment interest rate is governed by federal law, “even if the
arbitration award purported to grant post-judgment interest.” Fid. Fed. Bank, FSB v. Durga Ma
Corp., 387 F.3d 1021, 1024 (9th Cir. 2004).
 Here, the Final Award created a new and fixed liability as of the date it was rendered on
May 30, 2024, extinguishing Womply’s entitlement to further finance charges under the parties’
agreements. While Womply may seek post-Final Award, pre-judgment interest, such interest is
capped at 7%, not the 10% provided for in the Final Award. In addition, the Final Award purports
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to grant Womply post-judgment interest at the rate of 10% per annum by stating that, that rate
applies to the Final award “until paid.” The Arbitrator had no authority to grant Womply post-
judgment interest, let alone at a rate of 10%. These computational errors warrant a correction of
the Final Award under JAMS Rule 24(k).
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Benworth requests that the Arbitrator correct the Final Award
by replacing paragraph 5 on page 73 with the following: “Womply is awarded Finance Charges
calculated at 10% per annum simple interest, which as of May 30, 2024 are $25,363,697.68.”

Dated: June 18, 2024.

Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ Jorge L. Piedra
Jorge L. Piedra
Dwayne A. Robinson
Michael R. Lorigas
KOZYAK TROPIN &
THROCKMORTON LLP
2525 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, 9th Floor
Miami, FL 33134
(305) 372-1800
jpiedra@kttlaw.com

Attorneys for Benworth Capital Partners, LLC

Case 3:23-cv-01034-GMM     Document 117-1     Filed 06/20/24     Page 4 of 4

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