UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-1128

LOGAN & KANAWHA COAL

liability company,

CO.,

LLC,

West

Virginia

limited

Plaintiff Appellant,
v.
DETHERAGE
company,

COAL

SALES,

LLC,

Kentucky

limited

liability

Defendant Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Charleston.
Joseph R. Goodwin,
District Judge. (2:11-cv-00342)

Argued:

February 1, 2013

Decided:

March 21, 2013

Before NIEMEYER, DUNCAN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Reversed and remanded by unpublished opinion. Judge Diaz wrote

the opinion, in which Judge Niemeyer and Judge Duncan joined.

ARGUED: Rodney Arthur Smith, BAILEY & GLASSER, LLP, Charleston,

West Virginia, for Appellant.
D. Duane Cook, DUANE COOK &
ASSOCIATES, PLC, Georgetown, Kentucky, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:
Brian A. Glasser, BAILEY & GLASSER, LLP, Charleston, West
Virginia, for Appellant.
Edward E. Bagnell, Jr., SPOTTS FAIN,
PC, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

DIAZ, Circuit Judge:

Logan & Kanawha Coal Co., LLC (L&K) appeals a district
court order vacating an arbitration award entered in its favor.
The district court vacated the award after concluding that the
parties had not agreed to arbitrate their dispute.

Because we

conclude that the parties contract incorporated an arbitration

clause by reference, we reverse and remand with instructions to
confirm the arbitration panels award.

I.
On March 9, 2010, L&K faxed a purchase order draft to Bill
Detherage, the sole member and operator of Detherage Coal Sales,
LLC (DCS), proposing to purchase 10,000 tons per month of Alma
Seam coal from DCS over the six months from April to September
2010.

The fax cover sheet stated in handwriting that the fax

consisted of two pages and included with the cover sheet a onepage purchase order, which stated that ALL TERMS & CONDITIONS
ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INTO [sic] AND MADE A PART OF THIS
CONTRACT.

J.A.

24.

attached to the fax.

In

fact,

no

following

pages

were

That same day, DCS lined out the quantity

term, changing 10,000 tons per month to 7,000 tons per month,
signed the purchase order, and sent it back to L&K.
15,

2010,

L&K

returned

the

signed

purchase

Contract) to DCS, writing we have a deal.

2

On March

order
J.A. 78.

(the
The

Contract retained the above-quoted notice, but again included no

following

pages

containing

the

referenced

terms

and

conditions.
DCS never informed L&K that it had not received the terms
and

conditions

inquiry

about

conducted

referenced
them.

business

with

on

the

purchase

Detherage,
L&K

order

however,

through

other

and

had

made

no

previously

entities

he

owned

and/or operated, and had personally received L&Ks terms and

conditions on at least four occasions prior to DCS entering the
Contract.

Each of these sets of previously received terms and

conditions, despite some minor variations--including the label

change

from

contained
contract

an

General
identical

disputes

be

terms

and

conditions

arbitration
resolved

provision

pursuant

to

to

Standard--

directing
the

rules

that
and

practices of the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

No coal was delivered in April, as DCS informed L&K that it
was having production difficulties.

Concerned at this news, an

L&K representative visited DCSs mine in late April and found

that there was indeed coal being mined and shipped, but that it
was all going to another customer.

On May 11, 2010, L&K sent a

letter demanding assurance of performance.

The letter included

a copy of the Contract as well as a copy of L&Ks Standard

terms and conditions, which contained the arbitration clause.
DCS

(through

its

attorney)

responded
3

in

writing

that

it

had

thirty days to address L&Ks demand, but it did not object to

the applicability of L&Ks Standard terms and conditions.

DCS

thereafter delivered only a small fraction of the promised coal

by the date of performance.
On December 21, 2010, L&K filed a demand for arbitration
with the AAA, claiming that DCS had breached the Contract and
that the applicable Standard terms and conditions included a
requirement that the dispute be arbitrated.

DCS subsequently

designated an arbitrator while reserving its right to contest

arbitrability.
The AAA held an arbitration hearing to address whether the
dispute was arbitrable, whether DCS had breached the Contract,
and whether L&K had suffered damages resulting from that breach.
DCS

did

not

appear

at

that

hearing

but

filed

motion

to

dismiss, arguing that it had never agreed to the arbitration.

The

arbitration

panel,

over

the

dissent

of

DCSs

designated

arbitrator, found that DCS had agreed to arbitrate the dispute

and

issued

an

award

in

L&Ks

favor

of

approximately

$2.7

million.
L&K
Confirm

subsequently
Arbitration

Arbitration Award.

filed
Award;

in

federal

DCS

filed

court
a

Motion

Motion
to

to

Vacate

The district court held in favor of DCS and

vacated the arbitration award.

This appeal followed.

II.
The

issues

before

us

are

(1)

whether

L&Ks

arbitration

clause was a term of the Contract; and (2) whether, if we find

that the clause was a term of the Contract, the arbitrators
award should be affirmed.

We review legal rulings made by the

district court de novo and its factual findings for clear error.
See Raymond James Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Bishop, 596 F.3d 183, 190
(4th Cir. 2010).
A.
We first consider whether, under West Virginia law, 1 the
Contract
L&Ks

incorporated

Standard

by

terms

reference
and

the

arbitration

conditions.

Although

clause
this

in

coal

contract is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), W.

Va. Code 46-1-101 et seq., the UCC contains no provision that
speaks squarely to whether a secondary document referenced in a
contract is incorporated by that reference.

Generally, if the

UCC is silent on a particular question, the common law controls.

See W. Va. Code 46-1-103(b).
West

Virginia

incorporated

has

by

The Supreme Court of Appeals of

recognized

reference

that

into

separate
contract,

writings
see

Arts

may

be

Flower

Shop, Inc. v. Chesapeake & Potomac Tel. Co. of W. Va., Inc., 413

The parties do not dispute that the substantive law of

West Virginia applies.

S.E.2d 670, 673-74 (W. Va. 1991), but has not, as far as we can
tell, articulated the requirements for effective incorporation
by reference.

Accordingly, we must attempt to discern how that

court would rule on the question, minding not to create or

expand

[the]

States

public

policy.

Talkington

v.

Atria

Reclamelucifers Fabrieken BV, 152 F.3d 254, 260 (4th Cir. 1998)
(quoting St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Jacobson, 48 F.3d
778,

783

(4th

Cir.

1995)).

We

therefore

consider

general

principles of common law incorporation by reference.

Incorporation by reference is proper where the underlying
contract

makes

identity

of

clear

the

reference

separate

to

document

separate

may

be

document,

the

ascertained,

and

incorporation of the document will not result in surprise or

hardship.

Standard Bent Glass Corp. v. Glassrobots Oy, 333

F.3d 440, 447 (3d Cir. 2003); see also 11 Williston on Contracts
30:25 (4th ed. 2011).

Although it must be clear that the

parties to the agreement had knowledge of and assented to the

incorporated terms, Williston on Contracts 30:25, the party
challenging incorporation need not have actually received the
incorporated terms in order to be bound by them, especially when
both parties are sophisticated business entities.

See Standard

Bent Glass, 333 F.3d at 447 n.10.

By

the

same

token,

[i]t

is

appropriate

to

require

merchant to exercise a level of diligence that might not be

6

appropriate to expect of a non-merchant.

Id.; see also id. at

448 (Standard Bent Glass should have advised Glassrobots it had

not received [the referenced document], if that were the case.
Its

failure

to

object

to

the

arbitration

terms

of

[the

referenced document], absent surprise or hardship, makes those

terms

part

of

the

contractual

agreement.).

And

where

the

parties are familiar with the secondary document at issue due to

an

ongoing

business

incorporation

may

be

relationship
easier.

See

or

course

Stedor

of

dealing,

Enters.,

Ltd.

v.

Armatex, Inc., 947 F.2d 727, 733 (4th Cir. 1991) (Where, as
here, a manufacturer has a well established custom of sending
purchase order confirmations containing an arbitration clause, a
buyer who has made numerous purchases over a period of time,
receiving in each instance a standard confirmation form which it
either signed and returned or retained without objection, is
bound

by

the

arbitration

provision.

(internal

quotations

omitted)).
The district court held that L&Ks arbitration clause was
not incorporated into the Contract by reference because it had
not been clearly referenced and identified in such terms that
its identity may be ascertained beyond doubt.

Logan & Kanawha

Coal Co. v. Detherage Coal Sales, LLC, 841 F. Supp. 2d 955, 961
(S.D. W.

Va.

2012)

(internal

quotations

omitted).

This

was

because L&K used two sets of terms and conditions--Standard

7

and General--neither of which was specifically referenced by

the notice in the purchase order, which referred only to ALL
TERMS

&

CONDITIONS

statement

does

ON

not

THE

FOLLOWING

distinguish

PAGES.

between

Because

the

general

and

[L&Ks]

standard terms and conditions, the district court explained,

it

is

not

clear

incorporate.

Id.

which

document

the

statement

seeks

to

The court thus determined that the Contract,

lacking sufficiently clear reference to either specific set of

terms

and

conditions,

did

not

incorporate

the

arbitration

clause.
DCS

echoes

this

reasoning,

acknowledging

that

only

two

versions of L&Ks terms and conditions existed, Appellees Br.

at 8-9, while maintaining that it was impossible to determine
which

of

further

those

two

explains

following

pages,

versions

the

that

because

it

understood

Contract
the
the

referenced.

Contract

contained

reference

to

DCS
no

governing

terms and conditions to be mere boilerplate . . . which had

no

effect

on

the

transaction.

Id.

at

8.

Finally,

DCS

maintains that a course of dealings analysis is inappropriate

since

Bill

Detherages

personal

knowledge

of

the

arbitration

clause, derived from his prior dealings with L&K, should not be
imputed to DCS.

Id. (citing Phoenix Sav. & Loan, Inc. v. Aetna

Cas. & Sur. Co., 381 F.2d 245, 250 (4th Cir. 1967) (The general
rule is that the knowledge of an officer of the corporation
8

obtained

while

acting

outside

the

scope

of

his

official

duties . . . is not, merely because of his office, to be imputed

to the corporation.)).
We disagree with DCS and the district court, and hold that
the requirements of incorporation by reference are satisfied.
First,

by

referring

to

ALL

TERMS

&

CONDITIONS

ON

THE

FOLLOWING PAGES, the Contract makes clear reference to a second

document: the terms and conditions on the following pages.

The

fact that the Contract actually appended no following pages is

of little moment since the party challenging incorporation need
not have actually received the incorporated terms in order to be
bound by them, especially where, as here, it is a sophisticated
business entity.
Second,

we

Standard Bent Glass, 333 F.3d at 447 n.10.

conclude

that

the

identity

of

the

secondary

document was sufficiently ascertainable despite the existence of

two slightly different sets of terms and conditions, neither of
which

the

different

Contract
versions

explicitly
of

L&Ks

referenced.

terms

and

Even

conditions

if

the

could

two
have

created some uncertainty about which set applied, DCS can hardly
claim to have been legitimately confused about the applicability
of the arbitration clause, since both versions contained the
same

arbitration

provision.

Consequently,

the

arbitration

clause was entirely ascertainable to DCS, notwithstanding other

minor and immaterial differences between the two sets of terms
9

and conditions.

In any case, if DCS was truly confused about

which set of terms and conditions applied, it had a duty as a

seasoned merchant to affirmatively seek clarification on that
point rather than blindly assume the language to be ineffectual
boilerplate.
Third, the parties course of dealings allays any concern
that incorporation will result in surprise or hardship to DCS.
Although DCS has not itself previously done business with L&K,
its sole owner and member, through negotiations for his other
entities, has personally received L&Ks terms and conditions-always containing the same arbitration provision--on at least
four prior occasions.

DCS is correct that in Phoenix Savings

and Loan, we set forth a general rule that the knowledge of

corporate officers should not be imputed to their corporations.
381 F.2d at 250.

However, DCSs brief misleadingly omits the

clear limiting principle articulated in that same case: that

where,

as

here,

an

of

activities

officer

has

substantial

corporation,

his

control

outside

ordinarily . . . is imputed to the corporation.

added).

Once

we

impute

Detherages

of

all

knowledge

Id. (emphasis

familiarity

with

L&Ks

arbitration clause to DCS, there is no viable claim of hardship

or surprise.

See Stedor Enters., 947 F.2d at 733.

Moreover,

even if we put aside Detherages imputed knowledge, DCSs claim

of surprise is undercut by the fact that when L&K appended its
10

Standard

terms

assurances,

DCS

and

conditions

raised

no

to

its

objection

May

to

2010

their

demand

for

applicability

before beginning performance.

Since we find that the requirements of incorporation by
reference

are

satisfied,

correctly

found

the

we

dispute

hold
to

that
be

the

arbitration

arbitrable

and

panel

that

the

district court reversibly erred in concluding otherwise.

B.
Having found the dispute arbitrable, we next consider DCSs
argument

that

we

should

nevertheless

vacate

the

arbitration

award and return the parties to arbitration rather than order

the district court to reinstate the award on remand.

DCS urges

that this result is necessary because a judicial determination

regarding arbitrability needed to occur before the arbitration
proceeded to the merits.
Not so.
a

majority

Contrary to DCSs thinly supported assertion that

of

courts

require

judicial

determination

of

arbitrability before arbitration can take place, Appellees Br.

at 21, our review of the case law reveals no such prevailing
requirement.

As one of our sister circuits put it, [w]e see no

reason why arbitrability must be decided by a court before an

arbitration award can be made.

Natl Assn of Broad. Emps. &

Technicians v. Am. Broad. Co., 140 F.3d 459, 462 (2d Cir. 1998).
Of course, [i]f the party opposing arbitration desires that
11

order of proceedings, it can ask a court to enjoin arbitration

on the ground that the underlying dispute is not arbitrable.
Id.

As DCS did here, the party can also challenge arbitrability

after the award has been entered.

after

the

award,

the

party

obtained the relief sought.

If arbitrability is rejected

opposing

arbitration

will

have

If arbitrability is upheld after

the award, there is no reason for a court not to confirm the

arbitrators award.

Id.

Here, despite having had the right to seek an injunction

and request a prior judicial determination of arbitrability, DCS
chose not to take that step.
the

arbitration

panel,

Instead, it submitted the issue to

resolved

to

challenge

potentially

adverse arbitrability determination collaterally in court, and

failed to advance any arguments on the merits of the contract
dispute.

Now,

determination,

we

having
see

no

affirmed
reason

the
not

panels
to

arbitrability

confirm

its

award.

Indeed, to rule otherwise would give DCS a second and undeserved

bite at the arbitration apple.

III.
For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the judgment of the
district court and remand with instructions to confirm L&Ks
arbitration award.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
12