Remand of Arbitration Order for Clarification Not Appealable, 5th Cir. Majority Rules

NEW ORLEANS — A federal district court’s remand of an award back to an arbitration panel for clarification is not a final order and therefore not appealable, a 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority has ruled.

In a July 25 opinion, the appellate majority explained that “the policies disfavoring partial resolution by arbitration would preclude appellate intrusion until the arbitration was complete.”

Plaintiffs are stockholders of Vocada Inc., whose sole product was a software program called Veriphy, which documents patients’ medical test results in radiology departments and hospitals. Nuance Communications Inc. produces PowerScribe, a speech recognition software used in …