Newly Released Decisions
ConocoPhillips Petrozuata BV v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 24-1071 (3d Cir. Dec. 5, 2024)
Court of appeals affirmed and remanded district court’s decision denying intervening party, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA's, motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on sovereign immunity grounds under the FSIA and granted appellant’s motion for a writ of attachment. Court of appeals rejected PDVSA's judicial and collateral estoppel argument, finding appellant’s arguments in the ICSID arbitration and the current litigation were not identical, but not irreconcilable where both arguments accepted that PDVSA and Venezuela were separate legal entities, and appellant did not change its position in bad faith.
NextEra Energy Global Holdings B.V. v. Kingdom of Spain, No. 23-7031 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 2, 2024)
Court of appeals denied Kingdom of Spain’s petition for rehearing en banc, which was supported by an amicus curiae brief of the European Commission, relating to a case brought by renewable energy investors to enforce approximately $377 million in arbitration awards against the Kingdom of Spain.
MSV Synergy, LLC v. Shapiro, No. 1:21-CV-07578-ER (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 2, 2024)
Court granted plaintiff’s motion to lift a stay and confirm the arbitration award, and denied defendants’ cross-motion to vacate the award on the basis that the arbitrator exceeded her powers and denied defendants a fair opportunity to be heard, and that she manifestly disregarded the law. Court found that the arbitration clause did not limit the scope of the arbitration to preclude arbitration of certain claims and thus, the arbitrator did not exceed her authority, and that each claim the arbitrator considered was properly before the court. Further, defendants did not meet their burden in establish a manifest disregard of the law.
Jack Rubenstein CT, LLC v. Naturalena Brands, Inc., No. 1:24-CV-06864-AT (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 26, 2024)
Court granted petition to confirm an arbitration award under the FAA where respondent failed to appear in the action. Court found that petitioner was entitled to confirmation where there was no genuine dispute of material fact, the arbitrator had more than a "barely colorable justification for the outcome reached," and there was no justification for vacating or modifying the award.
Beijing Dayou Dingxin Investment Management Partnership, L.P. v. Wang, No. 1:24-CV-00137-CEF (N.D. Ohio Nov. 25, 2024)
Court granted petition to recognize and enforce foreign arbitration award, finding that respondent failed to establish an applicable exception to confirmation under the New York Convention. Respondent argued the petition to enforce the award was premature because of a pending appeal, and contrary to United States public policy because it would cause undue hardship to respondent and company shareholders. Court found there was insufficient evidence of a pending appeal and respondent’s public policy arguments fell outside the narrow exception under the New York Convention.
HFA Specialty Acquisitions LLC v. NexGen Flight Solutions, LLC, No. 1:24-CV-01891-BAH (D.D.C. Nov. 19, 2024)
Court granted defendants' motion to stay the litigation in favor of arbitration, finding defendants had not waived their right to seek arbitration and the incorporation of the JAMS rules in the arbitration agreement "leaves no doubt that an arbitrator must decide whether plaintiffs' claims are arbitrable, requiring that the litigation be stayed until arbitration has concluded." In particular, court pointed to the following language in the JAMS rules: "The Arbitrator has the authority to determine jurisdiction and arbitrability issues as a preliminary matter."
Webuild S.P.A. v. Argentine Republic, No. 1:21-CV-02464-RBW (D.D.C. Nov. 19, 2024)
Court denied Argentina’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s action seeking recognition and enforcement of an ICSID arbitration award on the basis that it was time-barred. Court concluded the 12-year statute of limitations from the D.C. Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act was the most appropriate in the absence of a statute of limitations in the federal statute authorizing enforcement of ICSID awards. Court found the policy concerns expressed by Argentina that would support use of the statute of limitations in the FAA did not "defeat the presumption against borrowing a statute of limitations from federal law."
In re Application of financialright claims GmbH, No. 1:23-CV-01481-CFC (D. Del. Nov. 18, 2024)
Court granted application to seek discovery from three Delaware LLCs for use in a litigation proceeding in a German court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782. Court found the application met the three statutory conditions, and that the Intel factors, on balance, supported granting of the application. Court denied motion to dismiss the application in favor of arbitration, finding it lacked subject matter jurisdiction because there was no independent jurisdictional basis in title 28 for a district court to enforce an agreement to arbitrate a § 1782 application.
Von Pezold v. Republic of Zimbabwe, No. 23-7109 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 13, 2024)
Court of appeals affirmed district court’s finding that Zimbabwe waived its sovereign immunity under the arbitration exception in the FSIA. Court of appeals found the elements of the exception satisfied because the applicable bilateral investment treaties were arbitration agreements, the ICSID tribunal issued valid arbitration awards, and the ICSID Convention governed the enforcement of the arbitration awards. Court of appeals also rejected Zimbabwe’s argument that the relevant bilateral investment treaties contained exclusive forum selection clauses that required enforcement only in Zimbabwe.