Fourth Circuit Dismisses Petition for Appeal, Sending Blackwater Suit to Arbitration

As outlined in an article in today’s Virginian-Pilot, last Friday, the Fourth Circuit denied a petition for appeal in Blackwater Security Consulting, LLC et al. v. Nordan (E.D. N.C.) (see here for filings related to the case).

In March 2004, four employees of Blackwater, a private security firm, were brutally killed in Fallujah. In January 2005, a representative of the families of the victims filed suit against Blackwater, alleging a breach of contract stemming from the failure to provide proper equipment and security to the men. In December 2006, Blackwater petitioned for the court to direct the matter to arbitration , which the court granted in April 2007, leading to an appeal by the families.

As the article summarizes:

A three-judge panel from the Court of Appeals ruled the court did not have jurisdiction over the appeal of the case. Unless the lawyers for the families choose to appeal further, the confidential arbitration panel will resume work on the case.
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The three-person arbitration panel includes William Webster, who was a director of the FBI and CIA under President Ronald Reagan; Edward Dreyfus, a New Jersey patent lawyer; and Jean Kalicki, an attorney specializing in international arbitration based in Washington, D.C.