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Mealey's International Arbitration

  • January 13, 2025

    Court Stays 26.5M Euro Award Action Against Spain Pending High Court Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted the Kingdom of Spain’s request to stay an action to enforce an arbitral award against it in favor of a European Union investor for violation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) pending the outcome of Spain’s planned petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of jurisdiction over it.

  • January 10, 2025

    Judge Stays Bid To Enforce $50M ECT Award Against Poland Pending Swedish Appeal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted the Republic of Poland’s motion to stay a Cypriot energy investor’s petition to enforce an arbitral award against it worth more than $50 million issued pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), finding that “judicial efficiency” favors a stay while Poland’s appeal of the award in Sweden remains pending.

  • January 09, 2025

    Canadian Company Says Tribunal’s Jurisdiction Over NAFTA Pipeline Claim Is Proper

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a Canadian province-owned oil company’s countermemorial opposing the United States’ bifurcated objections to the tribunal’s jurisdiction over a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim for $1.5 billion Canadian in damages caused by the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, which the Canadian company says is not time-barred.

  • January 07, 2025

    Magistrate Judge Compels Arbitration Of Mexican Luxury Homes Dispute

    NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge stayed litigation involving a Mexican luxury community developer’s defamation claims against homebuyers who publicly labeled the project “a Ponzi scheme” and one homebuyer’s counterclaims for fraud and granted motions to compel arbitration of the bulk of claims, finding that the home contracts contained “broad” arbitration clauses.

  • December 23, 2024

    Split ICSID Tribunal Awards $37.1M To Exploration Company Against Mexico

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Dec. 20 published a split tribunal’s award ordering the United Mexican States to pay $37.1 million in damages plus interest to an American phosphate exploration company for breach of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), while a dissenting arbitrator said the award is “premature” as a civil appeal in Mexico remains pending (Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. United Mexican States, No. UNCT/20/1, ICSID).

  • December 20, 2024

    $1.5M Chinese Arbitral Award For Breach Of Facebook Marketing Contract Confirmed

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge confirmed a Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) award worth $1.5 million in favor of a Hong Kong company for its dispute with an American marketing company that agreed to conduct marketing services on Facebook but was unable to perform the contract after Facebook froze the pages and sued it for a “bait-and-switch” scheme in 2021.

  • December 16, 2024

    U.K. Insurer Wins Stay Of Arbitration In Reinsurance Billings Dispute

    NEW YORK — Saying in part that the U.S.-based defendant didn’t show “by a preponderance of the evidence that an agreement to arbitrate exists between the parties,” a New York federal judge cited “New York state law” in granting a U.K.-based insurer’s petition to stay arbitration.

  • December 16, 2024

    Spanish Judgment For Oil Spill Barred Due To English Arbitration, Panel Says

    LONDON — The Court of Appeal of England and Wales said the Kingdom of Spain cannot enforce a nearly $1 billion civil judgment from a Spanish court against an insurer over a 2002 oil spill, in part because of the fact that an arbitrator previously found that under English law, the claims against the insurer must be arbitrated.

  • December 16, 2024

    ‘Bodily Attachment’ Writ Issued For CEO Of Banana Company Owing Nearly $7M

    MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on Dec. 13 adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation in full and issued a writ of bodily attachment against the president of a non-appearing corporate entity against which a more than $6.8 million judgment was previously entered reflecting a confirmed International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) arbitral award for a dispute over banana sales.

  • December 16, 2024

    1 Brother Dismissed, Other’s Claims Proceed In Romanian Film Company Arbitration

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal issued two awards in parallel arbitration claims brought by brothers accusing Romania of judicially expropriating their film company and other assets, with the Canadian-Turkish brother’s claims dismissed for lack of jurisdiction while Romania’s jurisdictional objections to the American-Turkish brother’s claims were ordered joined to the merits.

  • December 13, 2024

    United States, Other Amici Urge High Court To Reverse 9th Circuit’s FSIA Precedent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States, academics, attorneys and business organizations filed amicus curiae briefs in which most urge the U.S. Supreme Court to side with an Indian satellite company, its shareholders and subsidiary by overturning the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reversal of a $1.3 billion arbitral award in their favor based on its allegedly “outlier” jurisdictional precedent.

  • December 13, 2024

    Russia Can’t Avoid FSIA Jurisdiction In $34M Petition For Crimean Asset Seizures

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Dec. 12 denied the Russian Federation’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction a joint petition filed by 11 Ukrainian companies seeking to confirm arbitral awards worth more than $34 million in their favor for the seizure of their assets in Crimea, finding that the court has jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and denying Russia’s motion for a stay.

  • December 12, 2024

    11th Circuit Won’t Rehear Guatemalan Dam Contractor’s Appeal Of $7M Award

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 11 denied a Guatemalan contractor’s petition for panel and en banc rehearing of its appeal of the confirmation of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award against it worth more than $7 million for a hydroelectric dam contract dispute.

  • December 12, 2024

    Tribunal Finds Mexico Liable For Harming U.S. Oil Drilling Investors

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a decision on jurisdiction and liability, an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal found jurisdiction over three Texas-based oil companies’ claims against Mexico for violating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and found that Mexico breached NAFTA in part by rescinding the companies’ oil drilling contract.

  • December 11, 2024

    Island City Investors, Honduras To Debate Local Remedies Issue At ICSID Hearing

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Dec. 10 scheduled a preliminary hearing on the Republic of Honduras’ argument that several U.S. companies that invested in a chartered island city in a Honduran special economic zone were required under an investment treaty to exhaust local litigation remedies before pursuing an arbitration claim for a maximum of $10.7 billion in damages.

  • December 11, 2024

    $390M Award Confirmed Against Argentina For Airline Investment Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Dec. 10 granted a motion for summary judgment filed against the Argentine Republic by the successor-in-interest to Spanish investors who in 2017 won an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award for an airline investment dispute, which with interest is worth more than $390 million.

  • December 11, 2024

    D.C. Circuit Won’t Rehear Jurisdictional Appeals In Arbitral Cases Against Spain

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied the Kingdom of Spain’s petition for en banc rehearing in consolidated appeals regarding federal jurisdiction over three European Union-based renewable energy investors petitions to confirm arbitral awards worth approximately 358 million euros.

  • December 10, 2024

    Sanctions Unwarranted For Arguments Made In Saudi Contract Arbitration Dispute

    HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut federal judge denied a Florida company’s for sanctions against a Connecticut company based on its arguments made during litigation about the arbitrability of a dispute for the delivery of hazmat supplies to a Saudi Arabian entity, finding that arguments that one party “cheated” the other did not rise to the level of sanctionable conduct.

  • December 09, 2024

    ConocoPhillips’ Writ To Enforce $10.4B Awards Against Venezuela Upheld

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 affirmed the issuance of a writ of attachment in favor of ConocoPhillips entities seeking to enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award worth more than $8.5 billion against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and a $1.9 billion International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) against its state-owned oil company at a planned auction.

  • December 05, 2024

    Djibouti, Port Owner Dismiss Dispute Over Reversed $541M Award

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge entered a minute order dismissing a terminal operator’s petition to confirm a more than $541 million award in its favor against the Republic of Djibouti, which was remanded after the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed an earlier confirmation of the arbitral award, after the parties stipulated to dismiss this case while allowing certain discovery obtained to be used in related proceedings.

  • December 05, 2024

    Award’s Reversal Caused By Flawed Jurisdictional Precedent, High Court Told

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Indian satellite company and its shareholders and subsidiary in separate merits briefs filed Dec. 4 urged the U.S. Supreme Court to find that the reversal on jurisdictional grounds of a $1.3 billion arbitral award in their favor against an Indian state-owned company was incorrect based on “outlier” Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals precedent regarding the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

  • December 03, 2024

    Funder Drops Suit Against Investor’s Attorney After $8.9M Hong Kong Awards Paid

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Dec. 2 entered an order dismissing with prejudice a third-party litigation funder’s lawsuit brought against the attorney for an investor currently under conservatorship in Colorado after the funder reported that it was “fully paid” in the dispute over Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC) awards worth roughly $8.9 million.

  • November 27, 2024

    Insureds Seek Vacatur Of Order Compelling Arbitration Of $7M Hurricane Claim

    NEW ORLEANS — Citing new Louisiana Supreme Court precedent on the arbitrability of insurance claims, two New Orleans property owners filed a motion in Louisiana federal court to vacate an order compelling arbitration of their claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against a group of foreign and domestic insurers, which was previously upheld by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • November 27, 2024

    U.S. Arbitrator Can Hear U.S. Companies’ Arbitration Against Honduras

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a decision by the ICSID administrative chair denying the Republic of Honduras’ proposal for disqualification of a U.S. national from sitting as arbitrator in a dispute brought against it by several U.S. companies that invested in a chartered island city in a Honduran special economic zone, writing that Honduras consented to such an appointment under the relevant treaty.

  • November 25, 2024

    Magistrate Recommends ‘Bodily Attachment’ Writ For CEO Of Company Owing Nearly $7M

    MIAMI — A Florida federal magistrate judge on Nov. 22 recommended issuing a writ of bodily attachment against the president of a non-appearing corporate entity against which a more than $6.8 million judgment was previously entered reflecting a confirmed International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) arbitral award for a dispute over banana sales.