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Evidently undaunted by the Second Circuit’s dismissal of an award confirmation case on grounds of forum non conveniens (Figueiredo Ferraz E Engharia de Projeta Ltda. v. Republic of Peru, 665 F.3d 384 (2d Cir. 2011)) — or at least convinced of the Figueiredo panel majority’s idiosyncratic take on the “public interest” factor in forum non analysis — a federal district judge in New York recently denied a forum non conveniens motion to dismiss a confirmation action between Antiguan parties on both sides, arising from an arbitration that took place in Puerto Rico. (Leeward Constr.  Co. v. American Univ. of Antigua, …
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It has been nearly 45 years since the Supreme Court of the United States decided the Commonwealth Coatings case (Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Casualty Co., 393 U.S. 145 (1968)) and addressed for the only time in its history the meaning of the term “evident partiality,” which appears in Chapter One of the FAA as a ground for setting aside an Award. No single opinion or rationale commanded a majority of the Justices in that case, and the legacy of the case has been generally associated with the concurring opinion of Justice White, who was able to support the affirmance…
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Some rules and principles relating to enforcement of international arbitration awards are essentially matters of common sense.  Foremost among them are rules relating to the currency of judgments enforcing awards, and post-award interest. But as they are not often the subjects of reasoned judicial decisions, it is useful to take note when well-reasoned decisions come along. Today’s text is from a federal district court in Washington D.C., which addressed currency conversion and interest issues associated with a judgment enforcing a large arbitration award, made in London and rendered in British pounds and Nigerian niara, against the Federal Government of Nigeria….
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This commentator apologizes for his prolonged absence, explained largely in two words: provisional relief. In the representation of the Claimant in an ICDR arbitration seated in New York, there has been occasion to apply successfully for (i) judicial Mareva freezing orders in aid of arbitration in three foreign jurisdictions, (ii) an ICDR Emergency Arbitrator’s Partial Final Award directing access to the property in dispute; (iii) an arbitral Mareva freezing order and order for security for the amount in dispute, given as an Interim Award; (iv) judgments in the U.S. District Court and in the three foreign Mareva jurisdictions, confirming the Interim Award under the New York Convention; and…
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In a recent case, the removal of an action from state to federal court based on Chapter Two of the FAA (Section 205) and the New York Convention raised a question that puzzles this writer but evidently did not cause any hesitation for the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The question: does such removal confer subject matter jurisdiction on the federal district courts to decide issues having nothing to do with an arbitration agreement or award governed by the New York Convention. Per the Second Circuit, at least by implication, the answer is yes. (Bakoss v. Certain Underwriters at…
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Add the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to the roster of federal jurisdictions that, like the Second Circuit, hold that when an arbitration agreement adopts rules that empower arbitrators to resolve disputes over the scope of arbitrable issues, the arbitrators’ decision on that matter receives the same very high level of deference as arbitrators’ decisions about the merits of the dispute. (Morgan Keegan & Co. v. Garrett, 2012 WL 5209985 (5th Cir. Oct. 23, 2012). Here the arbitration was brought by 18 investors in a mutual fund, each of whom had signed a client agreement providing for arbitration under…
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