Mealey's International Arbitration : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's International Arbitration

June 19, 2025
Judge Clarifies Schedule In Petition To Enforce $17.8M Arbitral Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge in a June 18 docket entry explained that the court will treat a California pharmaceutical company’s petition to enforce an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal’s award in its favor worth more than $17.8 million as a motion to enforce under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and directed a Swiss company to respond by the end of the month.
June 19, 2025
ICSID Tribunal Bifurcates Investor’s $653M Claim Against Ukraine

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s decision granting Ukraine’s request to bifurcate claims brought against it by a Luxembourgian investor who seeks $653 million in damages for the alleged expropriation of his investment, writing that it will first decide issues of jurisdiction and liability.
June 19, 2025
Au Pair Company Can’t Compel Arbitration Of Labor Claims,1st Circuit Says

BOSTON — A First District U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 18 affirmed the denial of an au pair placement company’s motion to compel arbitration of claims brought against it by several foreign nationals for violating federal and state employment laws, finding that the company cannot enforce an arbitration agreement that it didn’t sign and which was not clearly for its benefit.
June 18, 2025
Judge Won’t Vacate Arbitration Of Hurricane Dispute Pending Appeals

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge on June 17 denied a motion to lift a stay on litigation brought by a city against its foreign and domestic insurers in a dispute over Hurricane Ida claims and vacate a prior order compelling arbitration despite a recent ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court that such arbitrations are barred by state law, writing that there is an intradistrict “split on this issue” and citing two pending appeals.
June 18, 2025
4th Circuit Affirms $8M Award In Iraq War Contract Dispute

RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on June 17 affirmed a Virginia federal court’s confirmation of an arbitral award against a Kuwaiti company worth more than $8 million for a dispute with Kellogg Brown & Root International Inc. (KBR) over logistics contracts performed during the Iraq war.
June 18, 2025
Japanese Wind Investor Seeks To Confirm 106M Euro Award Against Spain

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Japanese investor filed a petition in District of Columbia federal court seeking to confirm an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award in its favor worth more than 106 million euros in compensation plus more than $4.3 million in attorney fees and arbitration costs against the Kingdom of Spain for retroactively clawing back certain subsidies.
June 17, 2025
Qatari Bank Seeks To Enforce $1B Award Against South Sudan

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Qatari bank that is partly state owned filed a petition in District of Columbia federal court seeking to confirm an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than $1 billion against the Republic of South Sudan and its national bank for defaulting on payment obligations owed to the bank for various credit agreements entered into shortly after South Sudan obtained its independence in 2011.
June 17, 2025
Environmental Experts Can Weigh In On German Coal Phase-Out Claim, Tribunal Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s order granting fossil fuel emissions experts’ application to make a written submission to the tribunal, which is hearing a Swiss investor’s claims against the Federal Republic of Germany for violating the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by planning to phase out coal plants.
June 16, 2025
Judge Quashes Service Of Sanctions For Noncompliance With Awards

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 13 granted a motion to quash service of a motion for sanctions against a majority shareholder of a Latin American telecommunications company against whom contempt sanctions worth approximately $30,000 a day were ordered in April, finding that the shareholder was not properly served and must be re-served.
June 13, 2025
Dubai Entity’s $15M Award Against Afghani Entity Confirmed By Judge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on June 12 granted a Dubai entity’s motion for default judgment and confirmed a Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) arbitral award worth more than $15.2 million against an agency of the government of Afghanistan for a dispute over an aviation security contract.
June 13, 2025
Spanish Company May Attach Gabonese Assets To Enforce $18M Award, Judge Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted a Spanish company’s motion for an order authorizing it to attach assets of the Gabonese Republic to satisfy a judgment worth nearly $18 million reflecting an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award against Gabon for a stadium renovation contract dispute.
June 12, 2025
Russia’s Bid To Dismiss Or Stay Petition To Confirm $5B Award Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on June 11 denied the Russian Federation’s motions to dismiss or stay a petition brought by a Luxembourg entity to enforce an arbitral award worth more than $5 billion representing the loss of a loan to its parent company, which underwent an allegedly politically motivated bankruptcy after which creditors like the petitioner were told their claims for repayment had expired.
June 12, 2025
Iraqi Government Entities Held In Contempt After Ignoring $120M Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge ordered the Republic of Iraq and two government entities to pay sanctions of $15,000 per day until they comply with asset discovery or satisfy the court’s judgment entered against them after confirming an arbitral award worth more than $120 million in favor of a Cypriot construction company.
June 11, 2025
Tribunal Orders Venezuela To Pay Oil Investor $108M In Unpaid Dividends Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Addressing a question of first impression, a District of Columbia federal judge confirmed a Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) arbitral award against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela worth more than $108 million in favor of a Barbadian oil and gas investor after rejecting Venezuela’s public policy argument that the award violated the U.S. executive branch’s authority over recognition of foreign leaders.
June 11, 2025
ICSID Committee Annuls 190M Euro Award Against Italy For Arbitrator’s Nondisclosure

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An ad hoc committee of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) annulled a more than 190 million euro award against the Italian Republic for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by unlawfully expropriating three companies’ offshore drilling investments, after finding that one arbitrator failed to disclose the fact that he was criminally prosecuted in Italy in the 1980s.
June 09, 2025
EU Amici Tell High Court Intra-EU Arbitration Cases Incentivize Forum Shopping

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three European Union member-states and the European Commission (EC) filed amicus curiae briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the Kingdom of Spain’s challenge to the ruling that a U.S. district court has jurisdiction over petitions to confirm intra-EU arbitration awards against it, which are unenforceable in the EU under EU law, with the EC writing that the progress of such cases in the U.S. threatens the “integrity of the EU legal system.”
June 05, 2025
High Court Reverses 9th Circuit In $1.3B Arbitral Dispute Over Indian Satellite

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 5 unanimously reversed a ruling by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that reversed the confirmation of a $1.3 billion arbitral award in favor of an Indian company on jurisdictional grounds, finding that the Ninth Circuit’s precedent requiring a minimum contacts analysis under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) was incorrect.
June 03, 2025
Judge Compels Arbitration Of Dispute Over Bulgarian Company’s Casino Games

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on June 2 granted a motion to compel arbitration in Bulgaria of a contract dispute between a Florida entity and a Bulgarian company that sold it electronic gambling and casino game machines after finding that all of the disputes arise out of the parties’ contracts and none of the Florida entity’s defenses to arbitration has merit.
June 02, 2025
Judge Grants Venezuela’s Motion To Extend Bidding Period For Oil Shares Auction

WILMINGTON, Del. — The judge overseeing the planned auction of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s oil shares in Delaware federal court to satisfy confirmed arbitral awards and civil judgments worth billions of dollars on May 30 granted a motion by Venezuela and affiliates to extend the “topping period” by 21 days to allow “new groups of bidders” to participate, with a sale hearing in the long-running case set for the end of July.
May 30, 2025
D.C. Circuit Denies Quick Dismissal Of Russia’s Appeal In $34M Crimean Award Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 29 denied 11 Ukrainian companies’ motion for summary affirmance and to dismiss an appeal by the Russian Federation of a lower court’s finding of jurisdiction over it under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) in a petition to confirm a more than $34 million arbitral award against it for seizing Crimean assets.
May 29, 2025
5th Circuit Dismisses Appeal Of Compelled Arbitration With Foreign Insurers

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a hotel owner’s appeal challenging an order compelling it to arbitrate a dispute over a fire insurance claim with a group of insurers, including two foreign entities, that the appellant said contradicts state law, with the panel writing that the order was not final or appealable.
May 23, 2025
Judge Defers Lima Motion To Vacate $198M Judgment Over Alleged Foley Hoag Conflict

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on May 22 deferred ruling on Lima, Peru’s motion to vacate a more than $198 million judgment against it based on new arguments that its former counsel, Foley Hoag LLP, was conflicted due to simultaneously representing a stakeholder in the adverse contractor without disclosing that fact to the city, citing a pending appeal in the case.
May 22, 2025
Judge Compels Arbitration Of Suit Against ‘Social’ Gambling Site Operator

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on May 21 granted a Cypriot gambling website operator’s motion to compel arbitration of claims brought against it by a man with a gambling addiction who alleges that the website is operated in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA).
May 22, 2025
Discovery Against Singaporean Company In Arbitral Row May Proceed, Judge Says

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge denied motions by a Singaporean biosciences company and an affiliated doctor to vacate subpoenas to aid a foreign legal action brought against the company by Novo Nordisk A/S in a dispute over alleged misrepresentations regarding the effectiveness of a hypertension drug, rejecting the bioscience company’s arguments that the subpoenas were a “pretext” to improperly obtain discovery for a pending international arbitration between the parties.
May 20, 2025
Magistrate Recommends Confirming $200K Award Against Baby Goods Seller

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge on May 19 recommended granting default judgment in favor of a Hong Kong company seeking to confirm a Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) award worth more than $200,000 against a California woman and her company, which sold retractable baby pacifier clips, for failure to make payments required under a contract for future receivables.