Case Explained: 24-3291, Filed 08/04/2026

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Filed: 2026-08-04 The Third Circuit affirmed the District Court’s order enforcing the arbitration award, holding that the arbitration panel did not violate the functus officio doctrine when it issued a revised interim award clarifying its earlier decision. The court applied the ambiguity exception to functus officio, which permits an arbitrator to clarify an award that is susceptible to more than one interpretation or leaves doubt regarding whether the submission was fully executed. The court reasoned that although the interim award’s “Holding” section appeared to limit fee calculations to shares issued by Destra, the accompanying opinion and contractual context created a reasonable ambiguity as to whether Provasi-issued shares were also included. Because the parties had adopted AAA Rule 9, granting arbitrators broad authority to interpret their powers, the court deferred to the panel’s rational clarification of its ambiguous award under 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(4). The practical consequence is that the arbitration panel’s final award, which ordered Prospect Capital Management L.P. to pay approximately $11 million in unpaid fees and related costs, remains enforceable. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.