When the Very Rich Battle the Mega Rich

''Sometimes what happens is the parties end up getting the worst of both worlds,'' said Keith S. Rosenn, a law professor at the University of Miami. ``They have to litigate and arbitrate.''

The good ole Prof is describing an international arbitration dispute pitting Hogan & Hartson's Daniel E. Gonzales against The World's Richest Man:

Thomas A. Gordon, an investment banker turned Latin American investor, expected there would be minor legal wrangling after his company plunked down $16.5 million to buy international long-distance providers in El Salvador and Guatemala last year.

But Gordon never thought his fight to enforce a long-distance access agreement with El Salvador's main telephone company would lead to a bare-knuckles battle with the telecommunications conglomerate owned by Mexico's Carlos Slim, whom Fortune magazine now ranks as the richest man in the world.

Gordon's attorney, Daniel E. González, of the international law firm Hogan & Hartson, calls the dispute ``a fight between David and Goliath.''

Let me tell you what -- this "David" must be pretty darn wealthy because Dan is a great attorney, tenacious and dedicated, but he doesn't exactly work cheap. Should be an interesting dispute to follow. Apparently Dan's $9.4 million arbitration award has wound up before Judge Moreno:

In mid-July, CTE petitioned a civil court in San Salvador to annul the decision, arguing that there were procedural defects and that the dispute should not have been subjected to international arbitration rules in the first place.

International arbitration groups such as the American Arbitration Association, CTE attorneys contended in a court filing, had no authority in El Salvador.

Unaware of the legal maneuvering in San Salvador, some days later, Gordon's attorneys filed a petition in federal court in Miami to obtain a judge's order to collect the money. Under international arbitration treaties, a judgment in one country can be collected in any country where companies have holdings or bank accounts. The final arbitration session in the case also was held in Miami.

On Aug. 21, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno confirmed the $9.4 million judgment for Americatel El Salvador. But once Moreno learned that there was a competing motion filed in El Salvador, he called attorneys from both sides for a Sept. 14 hearing to try to better understand the dispute.

''Why did you participate in the arbitration? It took you 2 ½ years to say time out?'' Moreno asked Angel Castillo, an attorney with Ogletree, Deakins who represents CTE. ``What did you think happens in an arbitration? One of you was going to win.''

I love the way Judge Moreno boils complex legal disputes down to a simple, yet effective, question, delivered in a folksy, humorous, respectful tone. We are darn lucky to have him as our Chief Judge.