Mealey's International Arbitration : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's International Arbitration

April 18, 2025
2nd Circuit Stays Order Displacing Liberian Companies’ Prior Counsel

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a law firm’s emergency motion to stay a lower court’s order granting a motion by two Liberian shipping companies to displace the firm as counsel and require it to turn over case files from proceedings to enforce a JAMS arbitral award, an order that the firm contends will provide confidential files to its client’s former adversary.
April 18, 2025
Court Finds Jurisdiction Over Russia In $218M Award Case For Crimean Expropriation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on April 17 denied the Russian Federation’s motion to dismiss a Ukrainian electricity company’s petition to confirm a Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) award worth more than $218 million for an expropriation of its Crimean investments and denied Russia’s motion to stay litigation pending its Dutch appeal.
April 17, 2025
U.S., Canada, Support Mexico On NAFTA Time-Limitation In $2.7B Land Seizure Claim

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on April 16 published the United States’ and Canada’s nondisputing party submissions in which, without opining on the merits of a Michigan-based company’s claim for $2.7 billion in damages against the United Mexican States for expropriating its Mexican farmland, both nations agree with Mexico’s argument regarding limitations on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) legacy claims.
April 17, 2025
Judge Again Denies Croatia’s Bid To Dismiss $249M Gas Investment Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on April 16 denied the Republic of Croatia’s renewed motion to dismiss a Hungarian gas company’s petition to confirm an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award now worth more than $249 million for harming its investment in hydrocarbons, finding most of its arguments barred by recent D.C. Circuit precedent on intra-EU arbitration.
April 17, 2025
Company Says German D&O Insurer’s Bid To Vacate $11.4M Arbitral Award Is Meritless

NEW YORK — A Singaporean shipping and manufacturing company seeking in New York federal court to confirm an $11.4 million arbitral award for directors and officers (D&O) coverage against its German excess insurer filed a brief opposing the insurer’s motion to vacate the award, writing that the insurer is seeking vacatur based on arguments about evidence from settlement discussions that were rejected by the arbitral tribunal.
April 17, 2025
Cypriot Company Seeks Sanctions For Iraqi Government Entities In $120M Award Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Cypriot construction company filed a motion for contempt sanctions in District of Columbia federal court due to the failure to comply with asset discovery requests by the Republic of Iraq and two government entities against whom the court previously enforced an arbitral award worth more than $120 million award.
April 16, 2025
Denial Of Arbitration In D&O Coverage Dispute Affirmed By 2nd Circuit

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 15 affirmed the denial of an insurer’s motion to compel a dispute over coverage owed to directors and officers of a bankrupt health care corporation be arbitrated before the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), opining that the bankruptcy trustee is not acting as policyholder in the dispute.
April 15, 2025
Colombian Builder Seeks To Enforce $317M Award Against Colombia And Agency

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Colombian company filed a petition in District of Columbia federal court to confirm an international arbitration award worth more than $317 million against Colombia and its infrastructure agency for allegedly harming its investment in a Colombian road project.
April 15, 2025
Judge Allows Alternative Service To Grain Traders In $149M Award Petition

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a Hong Kong entity’s motion for an order approving alternative service of its petition to confirm a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award worth more than $149 million with interest against two businessmen who allegedly accepted millions in loans for a Ukrainian grain trading business but failed to repay their debts.
April 14, 2025
Industrial Equipment Dispute Must Be Arbitrated In Canada, 7th Circuit Says

CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 11 reversed and remanded a federal judge’s ruling refusing to enforce an arbitration provision in a sales contract with a Canadian industrial equipment maker, finding the provision’s reference to an online arbitration agreement sufficient and binding under the U.N.’s Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
April 11, 2025
Judge Confirms Chinese LED Contract Award Against Florida Company

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted a Chinese company’s petition to confirm a Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SIAC) arbitral award against a Florida company for an award worth more than $230,000, rejecting the Florida company’s arguments that it was not properly notified of the arbitration and concluding based on an evidentiary hearing that the Florida company intentionally did not read the notice or read the notice and ignored it.
April 09, 2025
Singapore Appeals Court Affirms Set-Aside Of Partly Copy-Pasted Award

SINGAPORE — A panel of the Singapore Court of Appeal on April 8 dismissed an appeal challenging a lower court’s ruling setting aside an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal’s award due to the fact that the arbitrators copied and pasted more than 200 paragraphs from other arbitral awards involving the same respondent but different claimants, writing that the arbitrators’ conduct created an appearance of bias warranting set-aside of the entire award.
April 08, 2025
Wind Power Investors Ask Court To Enforce 334M Euro Award Against Germany

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two Austrian wind power investors filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to recognize and enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than 334 million euros in their favor against Germany for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by delaying their projects and then changing its regulatory framework in a manner that harmed their investments without compensation.
April 08, 2025
PCA Tribunal Dismisses Port Investors’ $206M Claim Against Estonia

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal recently issued an award in which it dismissed a U.S. seaport investor’s claims against the Republic of Estonia for allegedly interfering with, harming and eventually judicially expropriating its investment, causing it approximately $206 million in damages, while dismissing Estonia’s objections to jurisdiction and admissibility and ordering the parties to split equally the arbitration costs of approximately 3 million euros.
April 07, 2025
Italian Company Obtains Judgment Confirming $21M ICSID Award Against Argentina

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on April 4 granted an Italian company’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and entered an order confirming an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award worth roughly $21.3 million plus 6% interest accruing since 2006 against the Argentine Republic for a water and sewage contract dispute.
April 04, 2025
Judge Compels Arbitration Of New Claims In Latin American Telecoms Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a defense motion to compel arbitration of new claims brought in a long-running dispute over control of a company that develops and operates telecommunication towers in Latin America, finding that new claims by the company’s majority shareholders for recission of a contract with the company’s independent counsel must be arbitrated.
April 03, 2025
Laos’ Petition To Enforce $4.5M Casino Dispute Awards Dismissed By Judge

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern Mariana Islands on April 3 dismissed an amended petition filed by the government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to enforce three arbitral awards against an investor and his financing company collectively worth more than $4.5 million, finding that the awards are unenforceable against the respondents as nonparties to the underlying arbitrations and that the court lacks jurisdiction.
March 25, 2025
ICSID Denies Mining Investors’ Request For Stay Of $10M Award To Romania

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on March 24 published an ad hoc committee’s decision rejecting Canadian and British gold and silver mining investors’ request to stay enforcement of an attorney fees and costs award worth approximately $10 million they were ordered to pay Romania pending the outcome of their application to annul a tribunal’s award rejecting their treaty breach claims against it.
March 24, 2025
U.S. Driller Failed To Conduct ‘Due Diligence’ On Slovakian Licenses, Tribunal Finds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on March 21 published a tribunal’s award rejecting a U.S. oil exploration and drilling company’s claims against the Slovak Republic for more than $135 million and ordered it to pay Slovakia roughly 2.3 million euros in attorney fees and costs, after finding that the company failed to conduct due diligence and abandoned its drill sites rather than pursue available remedies.
March 24, 2025
Austrian Glass Company Wins Attorney Fees After Judge Confirms ICC Award

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge who previously granted an Austrian glass company’s motion to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award in its favor worth more than $1 million against a Minnesota company for failure to provide materials for a church project entered an additional judgment in favor of the Austrian company after granting in part and denying in part its motion for attorney fees.
March 13, 2025
COMMENTARY: The Role Of The Expert Witness In International Litigation And Arbitration Proceedings

By Nikki Coles and Jon Nicklin
March 21, 2025
Judge Stays Enforcement Of $155M Award Against India Pending Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted the Republic of India’s motion to stay enforcement of a confirmed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) award worth more than $155 million in favor of a German investor in a now-liquidated Indian telecommunications company pending appeal and declined to require India to post a supersedeas bond citing its status as a sovereign.
March 21, 2025
Singapore AI Education Company Loses Bid To Drop Injunction Pending Arbitration

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on March 20 denied as “procedurally improper” a Singapore-based artificial intelligence education company’s request to terminate a preliminary injunction, which was granted against it and a respondent shareholder entity pending an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration over an asset purchase worth at least $15 million, due to the respondent’s alleged failure to post a court-ordered $500,000 bond.
March 20, 2025
3rd Circuit Affirms Denial Of Arbitral Award Issued By Wrong Swiss Tribunal

PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the denial of a petition to confirm an international arbitration award in a medical devices dispute after finding that the tribunal that issued the award was not the one the parties agreed to arbitrate before.