Recent Posts

Hall Street v. Mattel, and the Problem of Post-Award Litigation By Marc J. Goldstein Sixteen months after the Supreme Court’s decision in Hall Street Assocs. v. Mattel, Inc., 128 S. Ct. 1396 (2008), and despite the rivers of “ink” that have flowed in commentary on the implications of the decision, one may seriously ask whether the realm of post-Award judicial proceedings has really changed very much. And one may well ask, should that realm change more dramatically than it already has, and if so, how do we get from here to there? For those who desire full-bore judicial review on…
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The death or health-related resignation of an arbitrator during the course of the proceedings is a vexing problem that admits of no easy or fully satisfactory solution. If proceedings have been extensive in a complex case, the substitute arbitrator may never fully “catch up,” and may never fully gain the parties’ confidence that he or she understands the case. Yet starting the case over, or recycling to an early stage, may be a sacrifice of time and cost that one or both parties find unacceptable. A recent federal district court case in New York (In re Ins. Co. of North…
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The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, acting in a long-running contract dispute between an American shipbuilder and the Republic of Venezuela, has held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) might permit a District Court, in proper circumstances and with sufficient statement of justification, to compel arbitration at a place of arbitration other than the one established in the contract, or to deny enforcement of the arbitration clause entirely based on political conditions at the agreed place of arbitration. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Inc. v. Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Venezuela, 2009 U. S. App. LEXIS 15260 (5th…
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The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held that an arbitration agreement between a foreign seaman and his U.S. employer, proving for arbitration outside the U.S. under foreign law, was null and void becuase it prospectively waived the seaman’s rights under the federal Seamen’s Wage Act. Thomas v. Carnival Corp., 2009 U. S. App. LEXIS 14406 (11th Cir. July 1, 2009). In Thomas, the court of appeals relied centrally on the much-discussed footnote dictum of the U. S. Supreme Court in Mitsubishi Motor Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, 473 U. S. 614 (1985). The Mitsubishi footnote states…
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With at least some United States district courts willing to consider discovery assistance to foreign arbitral tribunals, developments in the law concerning such discovery are of considerable interest. Some recent U. S. cases deserve mention. In Marubeni Am. Corp. v LBA Y.K., 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 12953 (2d Cir. June 19, 2009), the federal appeals court in New York affirmed a district court’s order granting a request to obtain discovery from a non-party witness, made by a party to litigation pending in Japan. In Marubeni, the party opposing discovery argued that the district court had abused its discretion by granting…
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Some readers of these Commentaries may find it useful to have ready access to a profile of my international arbitration experience. I seek to provide that here. Representative International Arbitrations as Arbitrator +ICDR case concerning interests in real estate trust. Parties US, Netherlands, Israel. Chairperson of tribunal. +ICDR case concerning investment banking compensation agreement. Parties US, China. Sole arbitrator. +ICDR case concerning breach of investment management agreement. Parties US, Saudi. Co-arbitrator. +ICDR case concerning breach of industrial machinery contract. Parties: US, Canada Representative International Arbitrations as Counsel + ICDR case in New York re price determination in acquisition agreement. Canadian…
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