Mealey's International Arbitration

  • June 30, 2026

    Companies Must Pay $296K In Attorney Fees For Award ‘Obtained Through Fraud’

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 29 ordered three Cypriot companies that are the beneficiaries of a since-vacated JAMS award worth more than $102 million, which the court said was “obtained through fraud,” to pay more than $296,000 in attorney fees to the original award debtor, which previously won vacatur of the award issued against it as part of a dispute between shipping companies.

  • June 30, 2026

    Dutch Investors Win $71M In Aluminum Action Against Ukraine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 29 published a tribunal’s award ordering Ukraine to pay two Dutch investors $71 million in restitution for the 2015 renationalization of their shareholding in aluminum assets, plus interest, arbitration costs and an undisclosed amount of attorney fees, but dismissed their other claims for damages.

  • June 29, 2026

    Russia’s Petition For Review Of Jurisdiction Over Crimean Arbitration Award Denied

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied the Russian Federation’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling affirming federal jurisdiction over two petitions to confirm arbitral awards collectively worth more than $252 million against it and in favor of Ukrainian investors for Russia’s alleged expropriation of their assets in the Crimean peninsula, which Russia claimed were not based on valid arbitration agreements.

  • June 29, 2026

    High Court Denies Spain’s Petition For Review Of Intra-EU Arbitration Cases

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied the Kingdom of Spain’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling finding jurisdiction over petitions to confirm intra-European Union arbitral awards against it and in favor of Dutch investors and a Luxembourgish company, which Spain had opposed as prohibited under EU law.

  • June 26, 2026

    Reinsurer Gets Confirmation Of $9.2M Arbitration Award In Settlement Case

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a reinsurer’s cross-motion to confirm a final arbitration award and denied an intergovernmental risk pool’s Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) vacatur petition in a dispute over a $9.2 million catastrophic injury settlement, holding that the arbitration panel did not manifestly disregard reinsurance, settlement or contract law in finding that the risk pool acted in bad faith and that its challenges largely sought impermissible review of the panel’s factual findings and contract interpretation.

  • June 23, 2026

    Canadian Dairy Investor Loses Bid To Annul Dismissal Of 87M Euro Claim

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 22 published an ad hoc committee’s decision dismissing a Canadian investor’s application for annulment of a split tribunal’s refusal to award him damages for the loss of indirect holdings in Serbia allegedly worth 87.5 million euros, finding that the tribunal properly explained its reasoning and did not exceed its powers and ordering the investor to pay Serbia’s attorney fees and the arbitration costs.

  • June 22, 2026

    3rd Circuit Grants Venezuela Extension In $5.8B Oil Shares Auction Appeal

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a request by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, appearing with new counsel, to postpone by 60 days oral argument in a pending appeal brought by it, its affiliates and losing bidders of a Delaware federal court’s order approving a more than $5.8 billion bid for Venezuela’s oil shares located in the United States, which the court is auctioning off to enforce confirmed arbitral awards and Venezuela’s bond debts.

  • June 11, 2026

    COMMENTARY: Experts Discuss Emerging Trends In International Arbitration For 2026

    [Editor’s Note: Copyright © 2026, LexisNexis. All rights reserved.]

  • June 22, 2026

    Jurisdictional Ruling In $140M Award Row ‘Deepens’ Circuit Split, 3rd Circuit Told

    PHILADELPHIA — An Italian construction company in a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc urges the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling vacating the dismissal of a Chilean contractor’s petition to enforce an arbitral award worth more than $140 million against the Italian company after it found that quasi in rem jurisdiction exists over it, which the Italian company said “deepens a circuit split.”

  • June 19, 2026

    English Judge Awards Fees Against Insureds For Opposing Arbitration In Louisiana

    LONDON — An English judge granted a Bermudian insurer’s application for an anti-suit injunction against several insureds based in Texas and Louisiana who sued the insurer in Louisiana and have refused to arbitrate COVID-19 insurance claims, finding that a Louisiana state law barring arbitration of insurance disputes does not apply to the insurer’s arbitration agreement and awarding it more than $700,000 and 400,000 English pounds in attorney fees and costs.

  • June 18, 2026

    Judge Confirms Final Award In ‘Long-Running Dispute’ Over Control Of Company

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 17 granted a petition to confirm a final award in a years-long arbitration in which the majority shareholders of a Latin American telecommunications company have defied past awards, including one ordering them to pay more than $325 million to minority shareholders, for which they were previously found in contempt.

  • June 18, 2026

    After Vacating $102M Shipping Award Due To Fraud, Judge Denies Permanent Injunction

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 17 denied a shipping investor’s motion, in which two shipping companies joined, for a permanent injunction against three Cypriot companies that are alleged to have been the beneficiaries of a since-vacated JAMS award worth more than $102 million that the court said was “obtained through fraud,” writing that he would not enjoin future litigation or issue findings beyond those in his vacatur order.

  • June 17, 2026

    Tribunal Dismisses Mining Company’s $315M Claim Against Mexico

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 16 published a tribunal’s award dismissing a $315 million North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim brought by a mining investor against the United Mexican States for failing to stop a mining cooperative from blockading and seizing silver and zinc mines in which it had invested and ordering the claimant to pay Mexico roughly $1 million in attorney fees, arbitration costs and expenses.

  • June 16, 2026

    Louisiana Anti-Arbitration Law Led To Circuit Split, Insurers Tell High Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of foreign and domestic insurers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling they say created a circuit split by applying a Louisiana law barring arbitration of hurricane damage policy disputes to their equitable estoppel argument over the New York Convention and federal common law.

  • June 15, 2026

    Split Panel Affirms $108M Award Against Venezuela Despite Leadership Change

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A split District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 12 affirmed the confirmation of a Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) arbitral award against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela worth more than $108 million in favor of a Barbadian oil and gas investor, while one judge dissented because the tribunal allowed Venezuela to be represented by President Nicolás Maduro at a time when the United States recognized the country as led by Juan Guaidó.

  • June 12, 2026

    Tribunal Won’t Enjoin Mexico’s $41M Bond Claim Pending Oil Well Award

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s decision denying a request by Texas-based oil companies for an order enjoining the United Mexican States from pursuing a bond claim against the companies worth more than $41.8 million while the companies’ arbitration claim against Mexico remains still pending.

  • June 11, 2026

    Final Judgment Entered In $13.8M Reinsurance Arbitration Award Dispute

    BURLINGTON, Vt. — Final judgment was entered in favor of a ceding insurer and against a group of reinsurers after a Vermont federal judge confirmed a facultative reinsurance arbitration award arising from the cedent’s payment of a $100 million policy limit for a restatement-related claim, holding that the reinsurers waived and failed to prove evident partiality, that the arbitrator acted within a broad honorable-engagement clause in rejecting their asserted right to full de novo coverage review and that the reinsurers failed to show manifest disregard of the law.

  • June 11, 2026

    3rd Circuit Won’t Expedite Appeal In German Lawsuit Funding Dispute

    PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge denied a German claims administrator’s motion to expedite review of an appeal brought by litigation funders challenging the denial of their motion to compel arbitration of an application for discovery from them for use in a dispute in Germany over the parties’ lawsuit-funding arrangement.

  • June 10, 2026

    Investors Tell High Court U.S. Is Correct To Oppose Spain’s Intra-EU Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dutch investors and a Luxembourgish company on June 9 jointly filed a supplemental brief to the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing with the United States’ recent amicus curiae brief and arguing that the court should deny review of a District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling finding jurisdiction over petitions to confirm intra-European Union arbitral awards against the Kingdom of Spain and urging the court to reject Spain’s arguments for hearing the case.

  • June 05, 2026

    5th Circuit Says District Court Complied With Mandate In Captive Insurance Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an amended partial final judgment confirming four arbitration awards in a captive insurance dispute involving Louisiana reconstructive surgeons and captive insurance program attorneys and managers, as well as the denial of a motion to alter or amend the final judgment, after finding that a Texas federal court complied with the panel’s prior mandate, which required the court to remove a nonsignatory from the judgment and allow further arbitration over the awards’ inconsistencies but did not require the arbitration to conclude before entry of the amended judgment.

  • June 04, 2026

    Spanish Cell Service Investor Seeks To Enforce $380M Award Against Colombia

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Spanish company that won an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award against the Republic of Colombia worth more than $380 million and 4.3 million euros in attorney fees for allegedly harming its investment in mobile cellular services filed a petition asking the D.C. federal court to recognize and enforce the award and arguing that no defenses to the award apply.

  • June 03, 2026

    On Remand, Russia Opposes Confirmation Of Award In Crimean Expropriation Cases

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — On remand from the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which affirmed federal jurisdiction over two petitions to confirm arbitral awards collectively worth more than $252 million against the Russian Federation and in favor of Ukrainian investors, Russia filed a brief in D.C. federal court opposing enforcement of the awards on the grounds that no valid arbitration agreement was formed and therefore enforcement would violate U.S. public policy.

  • June 02, 2026

    D.C. Circuit Partly Vacates Dismissal Of Bid To Confirm $21M Award Against Guinea

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated in part and affirmed in part the dismissal of a telecommunications company’s action to enforce a $21 million arbitral award against the Republic of Guinea, remanding the case for further evaluation of whether jurisdiction exists even though Guinea is a nonsignatory to the arbitration agreement.

  • June 02, 2026

    9th Circuit Awards Fees For ‘Hyperformalistic’ Trademark Appeal Arguments

    PHOENIX — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel awarded an Italian wine company all of its attorney fees incurred defending against a “frivolous” appeal brought by an American distributor challenging the confirmation of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award against it in a trademark dispute, and ordered further proceedings to determine the amount of fees owed.

  • June 01, 2026

    2nd Circuit Affirms $9M Fees And Costs Award In Pakistan Investment Dispute

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the confirmation of a JAMS arbitral award worth more than $9 million in attorney fees and costs issued against an investor for allegedly violating a restriction on securities transfers and rebuffed his arguments that the award should not have been confirmed based on findings from parallel litigation in Pakistan, which the panel said was only “tangentially related.”