A collection of the most recent US international arbitration decisions is available here. Decisions can be quickly retrieved by using the filter tools below.
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NextEra Energy Global Holdings B.V. v. Kingdom of Spain, No. 23-7031 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 16, 2024)
08/16/2024Court of appeals found that the district courts have jurisdiction over Spain pursuant to the FSIA’s arbitration exception. Court of appeals explained that when reviewing arbitration awards issued pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), whether the ECT applies to a dispute is not a jurisdictional question—rather, all that is required for jurisdictional purposes is “that the arbitral tribunal “‘purported to make an award pursuant to the ECT, not that it in fact did so.’” Court of appeals also held that the district court abused its discretion in enjoining Spain from pursuing an anti-suit injunction in foreign courts because it failed to (1) address the fact that the injunctions were sought against foreign sovereigns and (2) identify domestic interests strong enough to warrant the anti-suit injunctions. Judge Pan dissented, finding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting an anti-suit injunction where it considered principles of international comity, consideration of the views of the US is improper because they were not before the court, and the majority gave “insufficient weight to the [US’] obligation to uphold the ICSID Convention and its strong interests in doing so”.
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Archirodon Construction (Overseas) Company Limited v. General Company for Ports of Iraq, No. 22-CV-01571-JEB (D.D.C. Aug. 16, 2024)08/16/2024
Court denied respondents’ multiple motions asserting a range of jurisdictional and procedural arguments, and granted petitioner’s motion authorizing the commencement of attachment and execution efforts pursuant the FSIA. Under the FSIA, petitioner may seek to enforce a judgment by attaching certain property of the foreign state used for commercial activity in the United States, but only once “the court has . . . determined that a reasonable period of time has elapsed following the entry of judgment…” Contrary to respondents’ assertions, court concluded that “the intent [of respondents] to challenge the Court’s judgment does not toll the clock for the purposes of [FSIA]’s Section 1610(c)’s reasonable-time requirement,” and that eight months constitutes “a reasonable period of time” under which a court may authorize attachment and execution.
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Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, No. 23-7016 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 9, 2024)
08/09/2024Court of appeals upheld enforcement of arbitral award against Nigeria, finding the FSIA’s arbitration exception applied because the award was governed by the New York Convention. Court of appeals reasoned that FSIA’s arbitration exception requires the court to find (1) an arbitration agreement, (2) an arbitration award, and (3) a treaty governing the arbitration award. Whether the arbitration exception applies in this case turned on whether the New York Convention governed the arbitration award. Court of appeals held it did because it found (1) a legal relationship, (2) the relationship was considered commercial, and (3) it is one between persons.
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Commodities & Minerals Enterprise, Ltd. v. CVS Ferrominera Orinoco C.A., No. 21-14504 (11th Cir. Aug. 8, 2024)08/08/2024
Court of appeals affirmed district court’s decision confirming arbitral award in favor of petitioner pursuant to the FAA and the New York Convention. Court of appeals rejected respondent’s public policy defense regarding bribery to foreign officials because the defense applied to the underlying agreement and not to the award itself.
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Van Andel, LLM v. Lindberg, No. 1:23-CV-00879-CCE-JEP (M.D.N.C. Aug. 8, 2024)08/08/2024
Court granted petitioners’ motion to confirm arbitration award pursuant to the FAA and the New York Convention. Court found that respondents did not reference any ground for refusal authorized under the New York Convention, nor was a stay appropriate.
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Jiangsu Beier Decoration Materials Co. Ltd. v. Angle World LLC, No. 23-2450 (3rd Cir. Aug. 8, 2024)08/08/2024
Court of appeals affirmed district court’s denial of appellant’s renewed petition to confirm its foreign arbitration award. Court of appeals found that the parties did not agree to arbitrate pursuant to Article IV of the New York Convention and that the district court properly applied Pennsylvania, as opposed to Chinese, law in determining whether the arbitration agreement was valid. Further, court of appeals rejected appellant’s argument that district court should have granted comity to the Chinese court’s holding that the parties had a valid agreement to arbitrate.
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Risen Energy Co., Ltd., v. Focus Futura Holding Participações S.A., 1:23-CV-10993-LGS (S.D.N.Y. July 31, 2024)07/31/2024
Pursuant to a previous order, the court entered a pair of “re-amended” final judgments denying petitioner’s motion to vacate an arbitration award and granting respondent’s cross-motion to confirm the award but denying respondent’s request for attorneys’ fees.
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Doraleh Container Terminal SA v. Republic of Djibouti, No. 23-7023 (D.C. Cir. July 30, 2024)07/30/2024
Court of appeals held that the authority of the law firm representing a company engaged in a public-private partnership with the Republic of Djibouti to build and manage a major port was subject to a challenge with regard to the firm’s ability to represent the company in proceedings to enforce an arbitral award against Djibouti. Court reasoned that the sworn declarations of a state-appointed administrator of the company—which Djibouti nationalized shortly before the arbitral award was issued—attesting that she had not authorized the filing raised substantial questions about the firm’s authority such that the judgement confirming the arbitral award should be vacated and remanded for the district court to evaluate the firm’s authority.
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TIG Insurance Company v. Republic of Argentina, No. 23-7064 (D.C. Cir. July 30, 2024)07/30/2024
Court of appeals reversed and remanded the district court’s decision that it lacked jurisdiction to determine whether the Republic of Argentina was immune from a writ of execution filed by a company that had been granted two arbitral awards against Argentina for breach of reinsurance contracts. Court held that the arbitration and waiver exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act may apply, requiring the district court to engage in further analysis and fact finding.
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Molecular Dynamics, Ltd. v. Spectrum Dynamics Medical Ltd., No. 1:22-CV-05167-KPF (S.D.N.Y. July 23, 2024)07/23/2024
Court dismisses petitioners’ request to vacate two arbitration awards issued by the Swiss Arbitration Centre finding it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the dispute. The seat, and primary jurisdiction, of the parties’ arbitration was Mexico. Therefore, New York was a secondary jurisdiction and lacked the power to vacate. It could only decline to enforce an award based on the limited grounds specified in Art. V of the New York Convention.
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Ball v. Utopia Music Holdings (US) Inc., No. 1:24-CV-05086-CM (S.D.N.Y. July 18, 2024)07/18/2024
Court granted petition to recognize and confirm the parties’ arbitration award where the respondents admit petitioners are entitled to such an order under 9 USC § 207 and Art. III of the New York Convention, and no grounds to refuse or defer recognition or enforcement are applicable here.
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Xiamen Xiangyu Logistics Group Corp. v. Wholesale 209, LLC, No. 2:23-CV-02704-DJC-AC (E.D. Cal. July 17, 2024)07/17/2024
Court denied without prejudice respondent’s motion to refuse to recognize the arbitration award. Court found there was a genuine dispute over factual issues that warranted additional, but limited, discovery into whether Respondent assented to the arbitration agreement. Respondent argued the contract is “null and void” because it was signed without its consent, notice was deficient because it was provided in Chinese, a language not used or understood by respondent’s employees, and affirming the award would violate US public policy.
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Risen Energy Co., Ltd., v. Focus Futura Holding Participações S.A., 1:23-CV-10993-LGS (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2024)07/17/2024
Pursuant to a previous order, the court entered a pair of “re-amended” final judgments denying petitioner’s motion to vacate an arbitration award and granting respondent’s cross-motion to confirm the award but denying respondent’s request for attorneys’ fees.
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Agrasanchez v. Agrasanchez, No. 23-55110 (9th Cir. July 12, 2024)07/12/2024
Court of appeals affirmed the district court’s order denying petitioners’ motion to vacate an arbitration award due to fraud. To vacate an arbitration award pursuant to the FAA, the fraud must “not be discoverable by due diligence before or during the [arbitration] proceeding.” Here, petitioners did not act with diligence in taking six years to investigate a document they suspected to be fraudulent. Additionally, court of appeals found the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioners’ motion to alter or amend the judgment, as petitioners failed to demonstrate the alleged fraud could not have been discovered through reasonable diligence prior to or during the arbitration hearing.
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Beijing Dayou Dingxin Investment Management Partnership, L.P. v. Wang, No. 1:24-CV-00137-CEF (N.D. Ohio July 9, 2024)07/09/2024
Court granted an automatic stay for one of the two respondents, holding an automatic stay issued in connection with Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings only extends to non-debtors in “unusual circumstances” and no evidence supporting an exception for the second respondent was present here. Court further rejected second respondent’s argument that the arbitration enforcement petition was premature because of pending Chinese proceedings where the second respondent could not present any compelling evidence of ongoing proceedings in China.
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Global Industrial Investment Ltd v. 1955 Capital China Fund GP LLC, No. 23-2662 (9th Cir. July 1, 2024)07/01/2024
Court of appeals affirmed the district court’s order confirming the arbitration award, finding that the court is to defer to the arbitrator except for “the most limited circumstances.” Here, the arbitrator conducted a careful review of the agreement and spent several pages reasoning whether he had authority to dissolve the funds under Delaware law and the doctrine of equitable dissolution. Under these circumstances, the court could not find that that the arbitrator exceeded his authority.
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Appel v. Concierge Auctions, LLC, No. 3:17-CV-02263-BAS-MDD (S.D. Cal. July 1, 2024)07/01/2024
Court granted defendant’s motion to confirm arbitration award, finding that plaintiff’s opposition did not present any arguments against defendant’s motion to confirm, but rather presented two objections to the structure and content of defendant’s motion.
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Barton v. Zhang, No. 1:23-CV-08536-LJL (S.D.N.Y. June 27, 2024)06/27/2024
Court granted petitioner’s unanswered motion to confirm arbitration award, reviewing it as an unopposed motion for summary judgment under Second Circuit precedent, and awarded petitioner pre- and post-judgement interest. Court found no grounds for refusing to enforce the award under the New York Convention.
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Estate of Ke Zhengguang v. Yu, No. 23-1144 (4th Cir. June 27, 2024)06/27/2024
Court of appeals affirmed the district court’s decision to confirm an arbitration award under the New York Convention. Appellant opposed confirmation and enforcement of the arbitration award, arguing that the district court should have considered her procedural defenses of forum non conveniens and failure to join necessary parties. The district court decided, and the court of appeals affirmed, that these were purely procedural obstacles and not grounds for invalidating the award under Art. V of the New York Convention. Court of appeals additionally rejected appellant’s argument that the award violated public policy where local Chinese law requires China to approve payments of RMB that flow outside of China.
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Barton v. Zhang, No. 1:23-CV-08536-LJL (S.D.N.Y. June 27, 2024)06/27/2024
Court granted petitioner’s motion for summary judgment confirming an arbitral award pursuant to the FAA and the New York Convention. Court found that the dispute and award fell within the scope of the arbitration agreement and identified no ground upon which it could refuse to confirm any part of the award.
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Subway Franchise Systems of Canada, ULC v. Subway Developments 2000, Inc., No. 1:24-CV-00593-AS (S.D.N.Y. June 21, 2024)06/21/2024
Court granted defendant’s petition to confirm an arbitration award, finding that an interim order is “final” for the purposes of the FAA, even where it does not resolve the merits of an issue to be arbitrated. Court rejected plaintiff’s motion to vacate the award, holding that the arbitrator did not exceed her authority where the interim payment obligation was specifically referenced in the parties’ arbitration agreement.
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Risen Energy Co. v. Focus Futura Holding Participacoes S.A., No. 23-CV-10993-LGS06/18/2024
Court denied petitioner’s motion to vacate arbitration award and granted respondent’s motion to confirm.
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Gate Gourmet Korea Co. v. Asiana Airlines, Inc., No. 24-CV-01265-RGK-PD (C.D. Cal. June 17, 2024)06/17/2024
Court granted petitioner’s motion to enforce the parties’ arbitration award and rejected respondent’s arguments against enforcement where these issues had already been resolved in favor of petitioner by Korean courts. Court converted award to USD using the exchange rates effective on the date of the award.
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Hunter v. Azentio Software Private Ltd., No. 24-CV-03728-LJL (S.D.N.Y. June 14, 2024)06/14/2024
Court entered judgment in favor of petitioners who sought confirmation of arbitration award, for the award amount less credit for respondent’s partial payment towards satisfaction of the award.
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Risen Energy Co. v. Focus Futura Holdings Participacoes S.A., No. 23-CV-10993-LGS (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2024)06/11/2024
Court granted respondent’s motion to confirm arbitral award, but denied respondent’s request for attorneys’ fees relating to post-arbitration litigation where the parties’ arbitration agreements did not provide for such relief.
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Gem Yield Bahamas Ltd. v. Mullen Technologies, Inc., No. 24-CV-01120-KPF (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2024)06/11/2024
Court granted petitioners’ motion for summary judgment and confirmed the interim measures award issued during the liability phase of a bifurcated arbitration. Court denied respondents’ motion to vacate the award, concluding that the arbitrator did not exceed their authority and that the award was not rendered in manifest disregard of the law.
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UiPath, Inc. v. Shanghai Yunkuo Information Technology Co., No. 23-CV-07835-LGS (S.D.N.Y. June 4, 2024)06/04/2024
Court granted unopposed petition to confirm arbitration award and granted pre- and post-judgment interest, finding that the parties’ entered into a written arbitration agreement, both the United States and China are signatories to the New York Convention, the subject matter of the agreement is commercial in nature as it related to respondents’ misappropriation of trade secrets, and the agreement is not “entirely domestic in scope” because respondent is a foreign corporation.
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Samsung Electronics Co. v. Triller Platform Co., No. 24-CV-00261-MCS-MAA (C.D. Cal. May 30, 2024)05/30/2024
Court granted petition to confirm the parties’ foreign arbitration award and awarded pre- and post- award interest.
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Leviathan Group LLC v. Delco LLC, No. 23-CV-12611-DML-CI (E.D. Mich. May 28, 2024)05/28/2024
Court granted plaintiff’s motion to enforce the arbitration award and denied defendant’s motion to vacate. Court did not find evidence that the arbitrator exceeded her authority or acted with a “manifest disregard of the law” in that the arbitrator considered each of defendant’s arguments and provided a reasonable basis for her decision.
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Subway International, B.V. v. Subway Russia Franchising Co., LLC, No. 21-CV-07362-JSR (S.D.N.Y. May 28, 2024)05/28/2024
Court granted petition to confirm the parties’ initial arbitration award and second award issued on remand. Court denied the cross-petition to vacate, determining there were no grounds to vacate under the FAA where the petition to confirm was not procedurally improper, the arbitrator did not exceed her authority, there was no demonstrated undue partiality by the arbitrator, and the AAA did not err in reappointing the same arbitrator.
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Ecopetrol S.A. v. Offshore Exploration and Production, LLC, No. 1:18-CV-10024-JLR (S.D.N.Y May 23, 2024)05/23/2024
Court granted petitioner’s motion to confirm an interim supplemental award and denied motion to vacate the final supplemental award. The arbitral tribunal at issue was tasked with clarifying the terms of earlier-issued arbitration awards on remand. Following a hearing, the tribunal issued an interim supplemental award and final supplemental award. Court denied petitioner’s motion to vacate the final supplemental award, disagreeing with petitioner’s contention that the tribunal had exceeded its authority in deciding an issue not presented to it.
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Professional Sport Service FI OY v. Puck Agency, LLC, No. 24-CV-2022-KMK (S.D.N.Y. May 20, 2024)05/20/2024
Court granted petition to confirm an arbitration award pursuant to the FAA, noting the “deferential standard” applied to judgments of arbitration panels. Given that the opposing party did not assert any defenses against enforcement specified in the New York Convention, the court confirmed the award and directed the petitioner to submit an updated proposed judgment.
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Micula v. Government of Romania, No. 23-7008 (D.C. Cir. May 14, 2024)05/14/2024
Court of appeals affirmed the district court’s denial of Romania’s motion pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) for relief from judgment. Romania contended that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction enforce the underlying arbitration award because the parties’ bilateral agreement to arbitrate was invalid under EU law. The district decided, and the court of appeals affirmed, that EU law was inapplicable where the dispute preceded Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007.
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White v. Titlemax of Virginia, Inc., No. 23-1595 (4th Cir. May 1, 2024)05/01/2024
Court of appeals reversed the district court’s orders granting appellees’ applications to confirm arbitral awards under Section 9 of the FAA, holding that the applications failed to identify an independent basis for the district court’s subject matter jurisdiction.
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Crescent Petroleum Company International Ltd. v. National Iranian Oil Company, No. 22-CV-1361-JMC (D.D.C. Apr. 30, 2024)04/30/2024
Court granted petitioners’ motion for default judgment and confirmed the parties’ arbitration award. Court had subject matter jurisdiction under the FSIA’s arbitration exception to immunity of a foreign sovereign and personal jurisdiction where defendant was properly served by email. Once satisfied that it had jurisdiction to proceed, court found all elements to enforce the arbitration award were met under the New York Convention. -
Van Andel, LLM v. Lindberg, No. 23-CV-00879-CCE-JEP (M.D.N.C. Apr. 29, 2024)04/29/2024
Court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss petitioner’s motion to confirm an arbitration award, finding that a provisional award may be enforced. Court weighed the fact that NAI arbitration rules considered the award to be binding and courts have previously enforced provisional equitable arbitration awards. Court further determined the petition was not time barred because the FAA’s limitation period is “permissive” and does not automatically bar the confirmation of an award after one year.
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Pilot, Inc., v. Aukey Technolology Co., No. 22-CV-02408-SKC-SBP (D. Colo. Apr. 29, 2024)04/29/2024
Court granted plaintiff’s motion for entry of default judgment to confirm the parties’ foreign arbitral award. Court found all relevant requirements for the entry of default judgement were satisfied – court had proper subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction, the venue was appropriate, and plaintiff provided sufficient proof of damages owed.
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Aptim Environmental & Infrastructure, LLC v. Alico, LLC, No. 23-CV-02587-ILRL-JVM (E.D. La. Apr. 29, 2024)04/29/2024
Court granted plaintiff’s motion for default judgement and confirmed the final arbitration award because plaintiffs “demonstrate[d] the absence of a genuine issue of material fact” in its application for confirmation of its arbitration award.
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Loeb & Loeb LLP v. Hangzhou Chic Intelligent Technology Co., No. 1:23-CV-08993-AT (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 19, 2024)04/19/2024
Court granted petitioner’s motion to confirm an arbitration award finding there was no genuine dispute of material fact with respect to the confirmation of the award and the dispute fell within the scope of the arbitrator’s authority. Court further rejected petitioner’s motion to seal the arbitration award and hearing transcripts from the public record finding the parties’ confidentiality agreement did not overcome the presumption in favor of public access to judicial documents and the materials could have could have been redacted for privilege.
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Shenzhen Yunzhongge Technology Co. Ltd., v. Amazon.com Services LLC, No. 2:23-CV-01693-TL (W.D. Wash. Apr. 17, 2024)04/17/2024
Court denied plaintiff’s motion to vacate an arbitration award under the FAA for liquidated damages in connection with plaintiff’s alleged violation of defendant’s online sales policies. Court held that the arbitrator did not manifestly disregard the law, the award did not violate public policy, and the award was not a completely irrational interpretation of the underlying contract. Court granted defendant’s cross-motion to confirm the award.
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High Hope Zhongtian Corp. v. Peking Linen Inc., No. 22-CV-07568-VSB-SN (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 15, 2024)04/15/2024
Court recommended that plaintiff’s arbitration award be confirmed. Court found that confirmation was appropriate because the defendant had failed to appear in the action, had not asserted any defenses against enforcement of the arbitration, and thus had not disputed any of the proposed findings of fact.
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Huzhou Chuangtai Rongyuan Investment Management Partnership, v. Qin, No. 23-0747 (2d Cir. Apr. 10, 2024)04/10/2024
Court of appeals affirmed district court judgment granting motion for summary judgment to confirm a CIETAC arbitration award under the New York Convention and denying a motion for reconsideration where petitioner was provided adequate notice of arbitration.
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Lam v. Rise Huge Corporation Ltd., No. 22-CV-06094-TLT (N.D. Cal. Apr. 8, 2024)04/08/2024
Court dismissed action to uphold international arbitration award under the New York Convention for lack of personal jurisdiction where a Hong Kong defendant’s only contact with California was a contract for a one time stock purchase with a California defendant.
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Urangesellschaft MBH v. Nynco Trading Ltd, No. 23-CV-07713-DEH (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 5, 2024)04/05/2024
Court granted motion to confirm ICC arbitration award rendered in Switzerland under the New York Convention, where respondent did not oppose the motion. Court awarded petitioner’s attorney’s fees and costs, and pre-judgment interest at a rate of nine percent, finding it was common practice within courts in the Second Circuit.
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Wilson v. Carnival Corp., No. 23-10122 (11th Cir. Apr. 4, 2024)04/04/2024
Court of Appeals affirmed district’s court decision to dismiss plaintiff’s motion to vacate arbitration award with its legal seat in Panama, finding under the Panama Convention that only courts with primary jurisdiction, the legal seat of the arbitration, can vacate an arbitral award.
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Noble Prestige Limited v. Horn, No. 20-CV-82357-RS (S.D. Fla. Apr. 3, 2024)04/03/2024
Court granted petition to confirm and enforce arbitration award pursuant to the New York Convention and the FAA. Court found that respondents were barred under Chapter 2 of the FAA from raising defenses in opposition to the petition because they did not serve notice of motion to vacate, modify, or correct arbitral award within the three-month limitations period.
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Bua International Limited v. Domtec International LLC., No. 23-CV-00206-DCN (D. Idaho Apr. 1, 2024)04/01/2024
Court denied petitioner’s request for attorneys’ fees and costs, finding that while the arbitrator ordered respondent to pay for petitioner’s costs of the arbitration, it did not award future costs such as attorneys’ fees incurred in confirming the award.
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Seagen Inc. v. Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., 22-CV-01613-JLR (W.D. Wash. Apr. 1, 2024)04/01/2024
Court denied plaintiff’s petition to vacate and granted defendant’s cross-motion to confirm arbitration award. Court found arbitrator plausibly interpreted the parties’ agreement and did not disregard the applicable law, nor act irrationally, where the arbitrator explicitly addressed, but denied, plaintiff’s claims.
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Deutsch Telekom AG v. Republic of India, No. 1:21-CV-01070-RJL (D.D.C. Mar. 27, 2024)03/27/2024
Court granted petition to confirm a Swiss arbitral award, rejecting respondent’s forum non conveniens argument because the doctrine is unavailable in proceedings to confirm foreign arbitration awards in the D.C. Circuit. Court held it had jurisdiction under the arbitration exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and rejected respondent’s argument that it was entitled to additional briefing on its merits defenses under the New York Convention.
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Huzhou Chuangtai Rongyuan Investment Management Partnership v. Qin, No. 23-0747 (2d Cir. Mar. 20, 2024)03/20/2024
Court of appeals affirmed district court’s confirmation of CIETAC arbitral award pursuant to the New York Convention, rejecting defendant’s argument that he was not provided adequate notice of the arbitration and was therefore unable to participate in the selection of arbitrators. Court of appeals concluded that plaintiff made sufficient efforts that were reasonably calculated to provide notice to defendant.