USA 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 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,…

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 2013 and 2015, Voltage Pictures and Gulf Film entered into eleven distribution license agreements concerning the distribution of eleven motion pictures in certain countries in the Middle East (the “Distribution Agreements”). The Distribution Agreements called for all disputes to be resolved by binding arbitration under the Independent Film & Television Alliance (“IFTA”) International Arbitration Rules. A dispute…

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…

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 1, 2018) [click for opinion] Footprint Power Salem Harbor Development, LP (“Footprint”) entered into an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract (the “EPC Contract”) with Iberdrola Energy Products, Inc. (“Iberdrola”) for the construction of a power station in Massachusetts. Footprint later terminated the EPC Contract for cause. Iberdrola began an arbitration proceeding before the International Centre for Dispute…

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…

In Arbitrability

U.S.: Second Circuit affirms bankruptcy and district court decisions to deny motion to compel arbitration given the conflict between arbitration and the Bankruptcy Code.

June 18, 2018 by Kyle Olson 4 Mins Read

Anderson v. Credit One Bank, N.A. (In re Anderson), 884 F.3d 382 (2d Cir. 2018) [click for opinion]…

In North America

U.S.: District court refuses to stay enforcement of an award pending foreign challenge but seeks further briefing on the merits before confirming award.

June 13, 2018 by 5 Mins Read

Tatneft v. Ukraine, No. 17-582 (D.D.C. Mar. 19, 2018) [click for opinion] On July 4, 1995, Tatarstan and Ukraine entered into an agreement to create CJSC Ukrtatnafta Transnational Financial and Industrial Oil Company (“Ukrtatnafta”), a Ukrainian joint stock company that operates the largest oil refinery in Ukraine. Ukraine, Tatarstan, and PAO Tatneft, a publicly-traded open joint stock company established under the laws of the Russian Federation (“Tatneft” or “Plaintiff”), were the three major shareholders of…