North America Archives

In North America

U.S.: District court confirms arbitration award, rejecting petitioners’ assertion that the arbitrator committed manifest injustice in declining to apply Korean law.

October 2, 2018 by Amanda Praestholm 6 Mins Read

KT Corp. v. ABS Holdings, LTD., No. 1:17-cv-07859 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 10, 2018) [click for opinion] KT Corp. (“KT”), a Korean firm, and ABS Holdings (“ABS”), a Bermuda company doing business in Hong Kong, entered into a purchase agreement providing that KT would sell a geostationary satellite to ABS known as the KOREASAT-3 (“KS-3”). The Purchase Agreement stated that KT was obligated to “obtain all necessary licenses, consents and approvals for the sale of the Satellite…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: District court grants ICDR arbitral immunity on arbitrability issue raised prior to appointment of tribunal, and finds use of Texas attorneys and choice of Texas law in a contract calling for arbitration in Paris insufficient to support personal jurisdiction.

October 1, 2018 by Laura Zimmerman and David Zaslowsky 4 Mins Read

Wartsila N. America, Inc. v. Int’l Centre for Dispute Resolution, No. H-18-1531 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 15, 2018) [click…

In Asia-Pacific

FIDIC Rainbow Suite Second Editions Unveiled

September 24, 2018 by Dr. Ismail G. Esin, Ali Selim Demirel and Ceyda Sıla Çetinkaya 3 Mins Read

Recent Development On December 5, 2017, the Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils (FIDIC) launched the second edition of the…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: Supreme Court holds that class and collective action waivers in employment arbitration agreements are enforceable under federal labor law and the Federal Arbitration Act.

August 15, 2018 by 4 Mins Read

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) [click for opinion] In these three consolidated cases, Plaintiff-Employees brought class action suits against their employers for unpaid wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1935, despite having entered into mandatory individual arbitration agreements that waived their right to collective and class actions for any employment-related disputes. Plaintiffs, and the National Labor Relations Board, took the position that class action waivers in individual…

In North America

U.S.: District court finds motion to confirm award was properly served pursuant to terms of arbitration agreement and confirms award, finding that the arbitrator did not exceed her powers, deny Respondents a fundamentally fair hearing, or demonstrate evident partiality.

August 13, 2018 by 4 Mins Read

Voltage Pictures, LLC v. Gulf Film, LLC, LACV 18-00696-VAP (C.D. Cal. Apr. 17, 2018) [click for opinion] Between…

In North America

U.S.: Second Circuit holds that a party seeking to vacate an award must sustain a higher burden to prove evident partiality on the part of a party-appointed arbitrator.

August 6, 2018 by 3 Mins Read

Certain Underwriting Members of Lloyds of London v. Insurance Company of the Americas, No. 17-1137-cv (2d Cir. June…

In Applicable Law

U.S.: District court judgment vacating award overturned for failure to apply CISG and to consider extrinsic evidence of the parties’ agreement to arbitrate.

August 1, 2018 by Andrew Riccio 3 Mins Read

Transmar Commodity Group Ltd. v. Cooperativa Agraria Industrial Naranjillo Ltda., No. 16-3532-cv (2d Cir. May 9, 2018) [click for opinion] In 2013, Transmar Commodity Group Ltd. (“Transmar”) and Cooperativa Agraria Industrial Naranjillo Ltda. (“Naranjillo”) entered into six nearly identical contracts for the delivery of cocoa butter. A dispute arose when Naranjillo defaulted on its obligations under the agreements. An arbitral tribunal was convened to resolve the dispute pursuant to the Cocoa Merchants’ Association of America,…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: New York Supreme Court holds that when a parties’ agreement specifically incorporates or references arbitration rules that give the tribunal the authority to rule on its own jurisdiction, courts should allow the arbitrators to decide validity issues.

July 30, 2018 by 3 Mins Read

Footprint Power Salem Harbor Dev., L.P. v. Iberdrola Energy Products, Inc., Index No. 651963/2018 (NY Sup. Ct. May…

In Arbitration Procedure

Canada: British Columbia modernizes its international commercial arbitration legislation

July 10, 2018 by Christina Doria 4 Mins Read

British Columbia is now the second Canadian province to modernize its international arbitration legislation by adopting the 2006…

In North America

U.S.: District court refuses to allow non-parties to arbitration to intervene in enforcement proceedings, despite non-parties’ potential alter-ego liability for award.

June 20, 2018 by 4 Mins Read

Eddystone Rail Co. v. Jamex Transfer Servs., LLC, No. 17-cv-1266 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 7, 2018) [click for opinion] A district court in the Southern District of New York recently refused to allow a group of would-be Intervenors, all former affiliates and/or officers of Jamex Transfer Services, LLC (“Jamex”), to intervene in a proceeding brought by Eddystone Rail Company, LLC, to enforce $139 million agreed arbitration award in Eddystone’s favor against Jamex. The Court rejected the Intervenors’…