Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC v. Wade Roberts

── Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC v. Wade Roberts ── Case No.: 25-13683 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: March 17, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-13683 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 03/17/2026 Page: 1 of 6 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-13683 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ WELLS FARGO CLEARING SERVICES, LLC, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus WADE ROBERTS, Defendant- Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:24-cv-04406-VMC ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and BRASHER and WILSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-13683 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 03/17/2026 Page: 2 of 6 2 Opinion of the Court 25-13683 Wade Roberts appeals an order confirming an arbitration award in favor of his former employer, Wells Fargo Clearing Ser- vices, LLC, and denying his motion to vacate that award. He con- tends that the petition was deficient because it lacked a copy of the award. See 9 U.S.C. § 13(b). He also contends that the arbitrator erred by rejecting his defense of res judicata. Because the record establishes that the arbitrator acted within his contractual author- ity, we affirm the confirmation of the award. But we vacate the judgment and remand with instructions to enter a judgment that reflects the amount of the arbitration award as supplemented in the record. I. BACKGROUND In an earlier appeal, we affirmed an order compelling Rob- erts to arbitrate his complaint against Wells Fargo for collecting the balance he owed on outstanding loans. See Roberts v. Wells Fargo Clearing Servs., LLC, No. 22-11049, 2022 WL 16826715, at *1 (11th Cir. Nov. 9, 2022). Roberts and Wells Fargo arbitrated that dispute before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Au- thority issued an award in favor of Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo peti- tioned the district court to confirm the award of $1,077,225.54 and erroneously stated that it had attached a copy of the award to in- corporate it by reference. 9 U.S.C. §§ 9, 13. Roberts answered the petition, admitted that Wells Fargo attached a copy of the award, and moved to vacate it. In his mo- tion, Roberts argued that the arbitrator exceeded his powers by ig- USCA11 Case: 25-13683 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 03/17/2026 Page: 3 of 6 25-13683 Opinion of the Court 3 noring Roberts’s defense of res judicata, which was based on state- ments in our earlier decision that “Wells Fargo garnished Roberts’s bank account to satisfy the debt,” and “Wells Services had already collected the amounts outstanding on the promissory notes.” Wells Fargo opposed the motion. See 9 U.S.C. § 10(a). It asserted that the arbitrator acted within his express authority, that Roberts waived his right to present evidence by failing to appear at the final hearing, and that his defense of res judicata misconstrued our deci- sion, which was a jurisdictional ruling, not a merits determination. The district court granted Wells Fargo’s petition and denied Roberts’s motion. It ruled that the arbitrator acted within his con- tractual authority because th