Mealey's International Arbitration

  • 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.

  • May 21, 2024

    Tribunal Rectifies Costs And Interests Against Peru In $110.7M Award

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s decision on rectification of an earlier award ordering the Republic of Peru to pay two investors more than $110.7 million, granting Peru’s requests to clarify the award as to apportionment of costs and the interest rate accruing on damages against Peru.

  • May 17, 2024

    Canadian Oil Company Tells ICSID U.S. ‘Destroyed’ It By Canceling Pipeline

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on May 16 published a memorial on the merits filed by an oil company owned by the Canadian province of Alberta, which is seeking more than $1.5 billion Canadian dollars from the United States for violating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by canceling a pipeline project.

  • May 16, 2024

    U.S. High Court:  With Request, Arbitrable Dispute Must Be Stayed, Not Dismissed

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A case involving an arbitrable dispute must be stayed and not dismissed pending arbitration where a party has requested a stay, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled May 16 in a case brought by delivery drivers against the individual owners and managers of Intelliserve and related corporate entities (together, Intelliserve).

  • May 15, 2024

    Chevron Asks 9th Circuit To Dismiss Saudi Heirs’ Appeal Of $268,000 Sanction

    SAN FRANCISCO — Chevron Corp. and Chevron U.S.A. (collectively, Chevron) filed motions in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking summary disposition of an attorney’s appeal of a $268,000 sanction against him and asking the court to stay deadlines pending a decision on the motion, writing that the lawyer raises no valid arguments challenging the sanctions ordered against him for filing a fake news article during an appeal over an $18 billion award.

  • May 15, 2024

    D.C. Circuit Rejects Romania’s Challenge To $350M ICSID Award Based On EU Rulings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 14 affirmed a federal judge’s denial of the government of Romania’s motion for relief from judgment ordering them to pay Swedish investors and their companies more than $350 million, writing that the court was not deprived of jurisdiction based on rulings from the European Union’s highest court deeming the underlying arbitral award invalid.

  • May 14, 2024

    AI Investor Seeks To Enforce $25M Hong Kong Award In Shareholders’ Dispute

    NEW YORK — A Cayman Islands investor in artificial intelligence (AI) companies filed a petition in New York federal court seeking to confirm a Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) award against certain Chinese entities and citizens and one Cayman Islands entity worth $25 million, which the plaintiff says the defendants are required to pay after breaching a settlement.

  • May 14, 2024

    Judge Orders Discovery In Bid To Enforce $1.5M Award Against Bankrupt German CEO

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge refused to dismiss a video game streaming platform’s petition to confirm a JAMS award worth nearly $1.5 million against two German entities and their shareholder, the former CEO of the original award-debtor, and ordered further jurisdictional discovery to determine whether the court can exercise jurisdiction over the German defendants.

  • May 13, 2024

    2nd Circuit Dismisses Arbitrator Bias Appeal As Moot After Award Is Made

    NEW YORK — After being informed that an arbitration award issued the day before oral argument was scheduled to occur mooted the appeal, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel had the parties appear for a brief discussion and then on May 10 dismissed the case, also ordering that the lower court’s ruling be vacated.

  • May 13, 2024

    High Court Urged To Review Minimum Contacts Rule In $1.3B Indian Award Row

    WASHINGTON D.C. — Four entities affiliated with a liquidated Indian satellite company that won an arbitral award worth $1.3 billion urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari to resolve a circuit conflict over the applicability of minimum contacts analysis to jurisdiction over a foreign entity, writing that Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ precedent on the issue conflicts with four other circuits.