Recent Posts

Dear Readers It is not usually the function of Arbitration Commentaries merely to report news of the day, but while a new post on anti-suit injunctions in aid of international arbitration is in preparation, I invite your attention to an article in today’s New York Times reporting that a disbarred former lawyer, having completed his prison term for paying kickbacks to secure clients, is seeking engagements as an arbitrator and mediator.   Read further at www.lexmarc.us under Legal Developments, where there is a link to the article itself, and if you wish, post your comments here.  Warm Regards. Marc Goldstein

Dear Readers: On the general website of my law practice, www.lexmarc.us, you will find an essay on recent developments in US litigation under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”).  MJG

A recent US Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision re-affirmed some well-settled principles about the appealability of district court orders dealing with arbitration. The Court held that an order of the district court refusing to enjoin a pending arbitration was not appealable while the arbitration was in progress. (Accenture, Inc. v. Spreng, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 10933 (2d Cir. May 27, 2011)). But what seems more interesting about the case, for the practicing arbitrator, is the arbitral procedural order that led to this costly spasm of collateral litigation. Accenture was named a Respondent in a breach of contract arbitration by…
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Last week the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals wrote what should be the final chapter in one of the largest international arbitrations to emerge from the US financial crisis of 2007-2008. The case was an “international” arbitration only in the sense that Claimant was a Swiss company while Respondent was a US affiliate of a Swiss investment bank. The arbitration took place in New York under the arbitration rules of the Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and resulted in an award issued by a three-member tribunal, without reasons as is customary in FINRA arbitrations, in favor of Claimant for…
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(This is a condensed Arbitration Commentaries version, without citations, of what may become a longer and more formal article on joinder of new parties in an ongoing international arbitration. The source material for this Commentary consists of the various reports of the UNCITRAL Working Group and the notes of the UNCITRAL Secretariat, which may be found on the UNCITRAL website.)   The joinder of persons as new parties to an ongoing international arbitration, before an arbitral tribunal already appointed by the original parties or confirmed by an appointing authority, has presented difficulties that have not yet yielded to a unifying…
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In the past few weeks, new features have been added to Arbitration Commentaries. Some are for readers’ benefit. Some are for the writer. You will now see the headlines of the three most recent posts preceding the current post, set up as links in the “Recent Posts” area on the right margin. Also, please know, if you had not already discovered, that by clicking on the “Search Commentaries” space in the left margin at the top, you may word-search the entire archive of Commentaries dating back to the inception of this “Blog” in early 2009. The remaining changes are designed…
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