No training programme for first year arbitration associates is complete without an exploration of the advantages of arbitration versus litigation. Young lawyers learn the attractions of confidentiality and the enforcement benefits of the New York Convention. They hear the risks of finality and potential lack of predictability. Ultimately, we explain these to our clients, who make the decisions. Similarly, many surveys in our industry start with the same question: do you prefer arbitration or litigation?…
A. LEGISLATION AND RULES A.1 Legislation The United States has arbitration-related legislation at both the federal (national) and…
DIGOIL v. Democratic Republic of Congo, No. 20-cv-1130 (RJL) (D.D.C. Sept. 14, 2021) [click for opinion] Factual Background…
Cube Infrastructure Fund Sicav v. Kingdom of Spain, No. 20-cv-1708 (EGS) (D.D.C. May 17, 2021) [click for opinion] Cube Infrastructure Fund SICAV, Cube Infrastructure Managers S.A., Cube Energy S.C.A. (now Cube Energy S.a.r.l.) (“Cube”), Demeter Partners S.A., and Demeter 2 FPCI (“Demeter”) are European-based investment and private equity funds that invest in energy projects. Cube and Demeter invested in multiple hydro-power and photovoltaic (“PV”) facilities in Spain in 2008, 2011, and 2012, after Spain established…
Spliethoff Transport B.V. v. Phyto-Charter Inc., No. 20-CV-3283 (S.D.N.Y. May 13, 2021) [click for opinion] Petitioner Spliethoff Transport…
Compañía de Inversiones Mercantiles S.A. v. Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A.B. de C.V., No. 1:15-cv-02120-JLK (D. Colo. Apr.…
Rowland v. Sandy Morris Financial & Estate Planning Services, LLC., No. 20-1187 (4th Cir. 2021) [click for opinion] Barry and Donna Rowland (“Rowland”) first enlisted Sandy Morris and her Florida-based firm, Sandy Morris Financial LLC (“SMF”), for financial planning advice in 2014. After the couple moved to North Carolina, they continued to use SMF for financial services and, in 2017, hired Morris and SMF to manage their investment accounts. Pursuant to this expanded scope of…
Swiger v. Rosette, No. 19-2470 (6th Cir. 2021) [click for opinion] Plaintiff Nicole Marie Swiger took out a…
Copragi S.A. v. Agribusiness United DMCC, No. 20 Civ. 5486 (LGS) (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 15, 2021) [click for opinion]…
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc. v. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Venezuela, No. 20-60347 (5th Cir. Mar. 10, 2021) [click for opinion] A little over a year before Hugo Chávez came to power in Venezuela, Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (“Huntington Ingalls,” formerly known both as Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc. and as Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc.), entered into a $315 million dollar contract with the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Venezuela (the…