USA Archives

In Arbitrability

U.S.: District court grants motion to compel arbitration in accordance with broad arbitration clause that provides that an arbitrator must decide the threshold issue of whether a dispute is arbitrable.

March 26, 2019 by 3 Mins Read

SteppeChange LLC v. VEON Ltd., No. 18-cv-04842 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 5, 2018) [click for opinion] Plaintiff SteppeChange, LLC (“SteppeChange”) a California-based tech company, was involved in two projects, under two separate oral agreements, with Dutch cellular phone and data service provider VEON Ltd. (“VEON”), and its Italian subsidiary, Wind Tre S.p.A. (“Wind” and collectively with VEON, “Defendants”). The first project involved developing a customer messaging platform (the “Button Project”), and the second involved developing a…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: Appellate court reverses trial court order compelling arbitration, finding parties did not enter a valid mutual agreement to arbitrate.

March 25, 2019 by 4 Mins Read

Skuse v. Pfizer, Inc., No. A-3027-17T4 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Jan. 16, 2019) [click for opinion] In…

In North America

U.S.: Appellate court vacates corrected partial final arbitration award and final arbitration award on the grounds that the panel exceeded its authority by reconsidering its initial partial arbitration award.

February 20, 2019 by Amanda Praestholm 4 Mins Read

Am. Int’l Specialty Lines Ins. Co. v. Allied Capital Corp., Index. No. 656341/16, 2018 NY Slip Op 07194…

In Arbitration Agreements

U.S.: Fifth Circuit holds that party waived right to compel arbitration by invoking the judicial process and because Plaintiff was prejudiced in her legal position.

February 18, 2019 by 3 Mins Read

Forby v. One Technologies, L.P., No. 17-10883 (5th Cir. Nov. 28, 2018) [click for opinion] On April 24, 2015, Vickie Forby filed a class action in state court in Illinois against One Technologies, L.P. (“One Tech”) for violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (“ICFA”). The case was later removed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. In the notice of removal, One Tech did not…

In North America

U.S.: Second Circuit joined the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in recognizing an exception to the functus officio doctrine where an arbitral award failed to address a contingency that later arises or when the award is susceptible to more than one interpretation.

February 14, 2019 by Laura Kelly and David Zaslowsky 5 Mins Read

Gen. Re Life Corp. v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins. Co., No. 17-2496-cv (2d Cir. Nov. 28, 2018) [click…

In North America

U.S.: District court denies motion for stay of execution without bond and grants motion to execute on judgment confirming foreign arbitral award.

February 11, 2019 by 4 Mins Read

Stati v. Kazakhstan, No. 14-cv-1638 (D.D.C. Nov. 13, 2018) [click for opinion] On March 23, 2018, the District Court…

In Arbitration Procedure

U.S.: District court holds that Section 1782 does not apply to private international arbitrations.

February 5, 2019 by Baker McKenzie 2 Mins Read

In re Servotronics, Inc., No. 2:18-mc-00364-DCN (D.S.C. Nov. 6, 2018) [click for opinion] Plaintiff Rolls-Royce manufactured an engine…

In Czech Republic

U.S.: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refuses to confirm arbitral award issued against the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Health, finding award was not binding on parties.

February 4, 2019 by Kyle Olson and David Zaslowsky 5 Mins Read

Diag Human S.E. v. Czech Republic – Ministry of Health, 907 F.3d 606 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 26, 2018) [click…

In Arbitrability

US Supreme Court Rejects A “Wholly Groundless” Exception To Clauses Delegating Arbitrability

January 23, 2019 by Mike Leggieri 3 Mins Read

To paraphrase Pharaoh Ramses II, so it is written, so it shall be done. In Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc., 586 U.S. __ (January 8, 2019), the first opinion by Justice Kavanaugh, a unanimous Supreme Court reiterated this principle of the Federal Arbitration Act. Specifically, the Court confirmed that when an arbitration agreement delegates to an arbitrator the question of whether the agreement applies to a particular dispute, courts have no power to decide…