Mealey's International Arbitration

  • June 19, 2024

    Poland Asks To Dismiss Or Stay Bid To Enforce $50M Award For Repealed Penalty

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Republic of Poland filed a motion in District of Columbia federal court seeking to dismiss or stay a Cypriot energy investor’s petition to enforce an arbitral award against it worth more than $50 million, which was issued pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) after Poland refused to refund the investor’s subsidiary for a 450 million Polish zloty fine that was later repealed by Polish courts.

  • June 18, 2024

    Judge Confirms $50M ICC Award In Airline Catering Dispute Despite Settlement

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on June 17 granted a catering company’s petition to confirm a Singapore-seated International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal’s award in its favor worth more than $50 million against a South Korean airline, two weeks after denying the parties’ joint stipulation to stay the case in light of a settlement.

  • June 18, 2024

    ‘Lord Of The Dance’ Must Arbitrate Defects Dispute With Insurer, Irish Judge Rules

    DUBLIN, Ireland — The High Court of Ireland rejected dancer and businessman Michael Flatley’s bid to avoid arbitration of a 30 million euro dispute over defects in his County Cork mansion that he claims caused him and his family members severe health issues, rejecting his argument that the policy’s arbitration agreement is unfair and unenforceable.

  • June 17, 2024

    2nd Circuit Vacates Gabon Account Freeze Order In Pipeline Dispute

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 14 vacated a federal judge’s ruling giving an effect to an emergency arbitrator’s order directing shareholders of a Cameroonian pipeline company to leave a bank account in Gabon frozen, writing that the judge lacked authority to order two Citibank entities to compel their Gabonese affiliate to freeze the $151 million account.

  • June 17, 2024

    Insurers’ Motion To Compel Arbitration Should Have Been Granted, 5th Circuit Says 

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 14 reversed and remanded a lower federal court’s ruling that denied insurers’ motion to compel arbitration in insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking damages for commercial property damage caused by hurricanes Laura and Delta, finding that the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards applies despite the insureds’ dismissal of their claims against foreign insurers.

  • June 13, 2024

    Supplement Maker Urges Tribunal To Award $2.7B For Mexican Land Expropriation

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 12 published a Michigan-based company’s memorial setting forth its claim for $2.7 billion in damages against the United Mexican States in which it argues that Mexico disrupted its expectations for stability by expropriating its farmland and bringing its global distribution of vitamin supplements to a halt.

  • June 12, 2024

    Judge Confirms $62M Solar Panel Award In Brazilian Energy Company’s Favor

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 11 granted a Brazilian energy company’s cross-petition to confirm an arbitral award worth more than $62 million it won in a breach of contract dispute against a Chinese solar panel manufacturer for failure to make preliminary payments required under the parties’ contract.

  • June 12, 2024

    Split ICSID Tribunal Rejects American Mining Investor’s $900M Claim Against Peru

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 11 published a split tribunal’s award finding jurisdiction over the bulk of an American investor’s claims against the Republic of Peru for harming its investment in a copper mine but rejecting all of its claims for damages on the merits.

  • June 10, 2024

    Russian Award-Creditor Settles RICO Claims For Alleged Asset Concealment

    LOS ANGELES — A Russian award-creditor, a debtor and affiliated individuals and entities filed a joint stipulation on June 7 in California federal court notifying the court that they have settled all claims pending in the action brought by the award-creditor for violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by allegedly conspiring to shield assets from enforcement of a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award.

  • June 07, 2024

    Judge Confirms $72M Award Against Chinese Company For Source Code Misappropriation

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge confirmed an arbitral award worth more than $72 million against a Chinese company that was found by an arbitrator to have misappropriated an American company’s source code and later breached a settlement agreement under which it would allow the American company to review its code for any further use of its trade secrets.

  • June 06, 2024

    Judge Grants Partial Summary Judgment On RICO Claims In Russian Arbitral Feud

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part two defendants’ motions for summary judgment on claims against them for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by allegedly participating in a conspiracy to shield a Russian’s assets from enforcement of a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award issued for a Russian real estate dispute.

  • June 06, 2024

    United States Asks ICSID To Bifurcate Canadian Company’s Pipeline Claim

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 5 published the United States’ request for bifurcation of claims brought by a Canadian province-owned oil company’s claim against it for more than 1.5 billion Canadian dollars over the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, writing that the tribunal should first address whether the company’s North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claims are time-barred.

  • June 06, 2024

    Mexican Film Company Urges High Court To Review Rules Of FAA Service

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Mexican film distributor urges the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari to review a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opinion evaluating multiple questions of first impression regarding requirements for service of nonresidents under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), writing that it was not properly served before being ordered to pay an arbitral award worth more than $536,000.

  • June 05, 2024

    Tribunal Sets Rules In Noteholders’ $219M NAFTA Claim Against Mexico

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s order setting transparency and confidentiality rules for a pending arbitration brought against the United Mexican States by two American entities that hold debt securities in Mexico worth more than $219 million, payment of which they contend was improperly barred due to bias by a Mexican court.

  • June 03, 2024

    Judge Rejects Venezuelan Bid To Dismiss Special Master From Pending Oil Share Auction

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on May 31 denied a motion by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its state-owned oil company and affiliated entities to disqualify an appointed special master from supervising the planned auction of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company’s assets to enforce an estimated $24 billion in judgments reflecting confirmed arbitral award and bond disputes, writing that the Venezuela parties failed to establish improper advocacy by the special master.

  • May 31, 2024

    COMMENTARY: "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?”: Supreme Court Resolves FAA Circuit Split On Staying Arbitration

    By Ed Mullins, James P. Duffy IV, Niyati Ahuja and Wardah A. Bari

  • May 29, 2024

    COMMENTARY: U.S. Supreme Court Limits Appeals From Decisions Enforcing Arbitration Agreements

    By David N. Cinotti

  • May 30, 2024

    Award Terminating Subway Sandwich Shop’s Franchise Contract With Russia Confirmed

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on May 29 confirmed an arbitral award issued after remand in favor of sandwich shop franchise operator Subway International B.V. (SIBV), holding that a franchisor that operated Subway shops in Russia cannot renew its franchise license and that the parties’ agreement was effectively terminated in 2020.

  • May 24, 2024

    Colombian Oil Company Bound By VAT Payment Award, Judge Says

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on May 24 granted a Colombian oil company’s petition to confirm in part an arbitral award resolving its dispute with an American company over a stock purchase agreement but refused the Colombian petitioner’s request to vacate the portion of the award imposing on it the burden for value-added tax (VAT) payments due from an asset exchanged in the original agreement, which it later sold to a nonparty.

  • May 24, 2024

    Tribunal Dismisses Objections To Company’s $10B Claim Over Rights To Shipwreck

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) published a tribunal’s decision dismissing the Republic of Colombia’s objections to an American diving company’s claims against it for more than $10 billion in relation to its loss of rights to a Spanish galleon carrying treasure which sunk in 1708, finding that the company sufficiently pleaded that it is a protected investor and that its claims are within the applicable time limitations.

  • May 24, 2024

    Judge Confirms Finnish Award Worth $900K For Hockey Player Contract Dispute

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York federal judge confirmed a Finland Arbitration Institute (FAI) award worth approximately $900,000 to a hockey player agency after the award-debtor failed to appear in court and asked the agency to file an updated proposed judgment with greater detail regarding its calculation of costs.

  • May 24, 2024

    COMMENTARY: Interview: JAMS Arbitrator Dr. Anton G. Maurer Discusses Past, Future Of International Dispute Resolution

    Copyright © 2024, LexisNexis. All rights reserved.

  • May 20, 2024

    COMMENTARY: Interview: JAMS Arbitrator Patricia H. Thompson Shares Procedural, Problem-Solving Benefits Of Arbitration

    Copyright © 2024, LexisNexis. All rights reserved.

  • May 14, 2024

    COMMENTARY: Comparison Of Third-Party Discovery In Domestic And International Arbitration

    By Jessica Sabbath and Lisa Richman

  • May 23, 2024

    Panel Affirms Summary Judgment In Solar Panel Dispute Despite Arbitration

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment on a breach of contract dispute despite a then-pending International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration between the parties, finding that the loan contracts before the court were separate from the solar panel supply agreement providing for ICC arbitration.