Can witnesses in the course of an arbitral hearing be requested to testify on issues for which they were initially not offered by a party? At the outset, this appears to be a remote question but it has become a rather frequent practical problem which can have a significant impact on the outcome of an arbitration. Here is a typical scenario, illustrated by an example: in a large post M&A dispute, the buyer = Claimant…
In Int’l Energy Ventures Mgmt., L.L.C. v. United Energy Grp., Ltd., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 14773 (5th Cir.…
In Goldman, Sachs & Co. v. Athena Venture Partners, L.P., No. 13-3461 (3d Cir. Sept. 29, 2015), the…
On August 4, 2015, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision in Chevron Corp. v. Republic of Ecuador, 795 F.3d 200 (D.C. Cir. 2015), affirming the district court’s deference to the arbitrators’ decision on arbitrability for purposes of finding subject matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) to confirm an international arbitral award against Ecuador. The D.C. Circuit also upheld the district court’s rejection of a challenge to the award’s confirmation under the Convention on the Recognition…
In Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. v Cahill, No. 14-7032 (10th Cir. May 26, 2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals…
In a July 28, 2015 decision in Katz v. Cellco Partnership, dba Verizon Wireless, 794 F.3d 341 (2d Cir. 2015),…
Once again, the Hong Kong courts have made this place a more hostile environment for arbitration guerrillas. Punishment for arbitration guerrillas was swiftly laid down in another pro-arbitration decision by Mimmie Chan J (the Judge in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List of the High Court) in Chimbuso International Petroleum (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Fully Best Trading Limited (“Chimbuso”). In Chimbuso, the plaintiff commenced proceedings against the defendant in the Hong Kong Court of…
Most major international arbitration rules require that an award rendered by a tribunal include the reasons upon which…
Agreement has been reached on the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a free trade agreement between…
Arbitral tribunals have the power under Singapore law to rule on their own jurisdiction, consistent with the widely recognised principle of Kompetenz-Kompetenz. In a recent decision, the Singapore High Court has confirmed that this power extends not only to questions concerning the validity or scope of any arbitration agreement under which the tribunal has been constituted, but also questions concerning the very existence of an arbitration agreement. This includes situations where a party to the…