On August 3, 2026, the Court of Appeals of Virginia issued a unanimous decision affirming the Circuit Court of Fairfax County's order confirming an arbitration award in favor of our client, Space Adventures, Inc., and its co-defendants (collectively, “Space Adventurers”), rejecting all challenges to personal jurisdiction and service of process raised by the appellant.

The case arose from a dispute over a 2016 corporate restructuring of Space Adventures, accomplished through several agreements including a Stock Purchase Agreement (“SPA”).  In 2019, a group of former shareholders and directors sued in Nevada state court to challenge the restructuring and unwind the divestiture of Space Adventures' spaceflight business.  After the Nevada court dismissed the action citing the SPA, the investors filed a demand for arbitration under that agreement.  The arbitrator dismissed the investors' claims with prejudice and entered judgment for Space Adventurers on its counterclaim for breach of the SPA's arbitration provisions.  Following the Supreme Court of Nevada's affirmance of the dismissal, in July 2023 Space Adventurers moved the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, the forum specified in the SPA, to confirm the arbitration award.  The circuit court confirmed the award on May 24, 2024.

In August 2026, following oral argument by Ted Bennett and briefing led by Ricardo Leyva, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Virginia unanimously affirmed the circuit court's judgment, holding that the plaintiff was bound by the SPA's forum and service provisions because he had invoked the SPA to pursue arbitration, that the plaintiff waived his challenge to the SPA's authenticity by acknowledging before the circuit court that the appellees held a valid arbitration award, and that service was effective.

The Williams & Connolly team included partners Ted Bennett, Kennon Poteat, and Sean Douglass, and associates Ricardo Leyva and Mikaela Johnson.