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Federal Arbitration Act Insurance Industry

The Federal Arbitration Act is a United States federal statute enacted in 1925 that governs arbitration in contracts implicating interstate commerce. The Act applies in both federal and state courts. 
Rivkin Radler LLP

Insurance Update - April 2024

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Dominance was the theme of this year’s NCAA basketball tournament, with the UConn men’s team winning back-to-back championships and the South Carolina women’s team reclaiming the title with a perfect record. But let’s not...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Insights for Insurers

The Second Circuit May Well Reconsider Reverse-Preemption of The New York Convention by the McCarran-Ferguson Act

A significant number of states prohibit or restrict the arbitration of disputes between an insurer and its policyholder and/or preclude the inclusion of arbitral provisions in insurance policies.The McCarran-Ferguson Act...more

Carlton Fields

District of Puerto Rico Holds Article II of the Convention on Foreign Arbitral Awards Preempts the McCarran-Ferguson Act

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In a dispute over whether an international insurance policy provided coverage for losses resulting from a fire that destroyed the insured property, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico determined that the...more

Mintz - Arbitration, Mediation, ADR...

Enforcing Insurance Policy Arbitration Clauses: New York Convention Itself May Trump McCarran-Ferguson Act in the Federal...

Battles persist concerning the enforceability of insurance policy arbitration clauses due to the conflict between (a) the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause (Art. VI, cl. 2), which gives federal laws and international...more

Mintz - Arbitration, Mediation, ADR...

Insurance Policy Arbitration Clauses: Considering the “Conformity to Statute” Wildcard and a Treaty in the Federal Preemption vs....

The United States Constitution, a U.S. treaty, two federal statutes, a state statute, and a commercial contract walk into a bar. The federal statutes are arguing. The Constitution, the treaty, one of the federal statutes, and...more

Carlton Fields

Minnesota Federal Mutual Court Adopts “Look Through” Basis For Federal Question Jurisdiction In FAA Section 9 Disputes

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The District of Minnesota issued several opinions this summer in a dispute between two insurance companies, Federated Mutual Insurance Co. (“Federated Mutual”) and Federated National Holding Co. (“Federated National”),...more

Carlton Fields

Second Circuit Joins Sister Circuits in Holding Party-Appointed Arbitrators Not Subject to Same Disclosure Requirements as Neutral...

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The Second Circuit recently held that parties seeking to vacate awards under Federal Arbitration Act Section 10(a)(2) must satisfy a higher burden in showing evident partiality by a party-appointed arbitrator. ...more

Carlton Fields

Sixth Circuit Finds That Compelling Arbitration Does Not Impair State Interest In Exclusive Jurisdiction Over Matter Already...

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The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has found that Kentucky’s Insurers Rehabilitation and Liquidation Law (IRLL) did not reverse-preempt the Federal Arbitration Act so as to prohibit the arbitration of a dispute when that...more

K&L Gates LLP

OnRisk: Arbitration Provisions in Insurance Policies

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In this episode of OnRisk, Carolyn Branthoover and Sarah Turpin talk about the increasing frequency of arbitration clauses in insurance policies, the enforceability of arbitration agreements in both the U.S. and in the UK,...more

Carlton Fields

Ninth Circuit Reaffirms That Washington State’s Prohibition Of Arbitration Clauses In Insurance Contracts Reverse-Preempts FAA

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This case concerned a coverage dispute between Technical Security Integration Inc. and its insurer, Philadelphia Indemnity. The District Court for the District of Oregon denied Philadelphia Indemnity’s motion to compel...more

Carlton Fields

Insurance Receiver’s Preemption Argument Under Mccarran-Ferguson Fails To Avoid Arbitration Of Reinsurance Dispute

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The receiver for Gramercy Insurance Company sought to avoid arbitration of a reinsurance dispute with Contractor’s Bonding, Ltd., by arguing the FAA was reverse preempted under the McCarran-Ferguson Act....more

Carlton Fields

Ninth Circuit Finds Arbitration Clause Showed Clear And Unmistakable Intent To Resolve Arbitrability Questions By Arbitration

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Finding Montana law was inapplicable to the subject insurance policy under both federal maritime choice-of-law principles and the policy language, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that an arbitration clause was...more

Carlton Fields

California Court Considers Enforceability Of Arbitration Clause In Reinsurance Related Agreement Applying Nebraska Law

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In a case involving a reinsurance participation agreement (RPA), a California trial court has examined the interplay between two seemingly irreconcilable contract provisions: one that provided for the arbitration of any...more

Locke Lord LLP

NEBRASKA: A Good Home for Berkshire Hathaway, but not for Reinsurance Agreements

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A Cornhusker by birth, I’ve always had a special affinity for Nebraska, and particularly Omaha, where I was raised. My only regret is that I was neither old nor rich enough to participate in Mr.Buffet’s original partnership....more

Carlton Fields

Court Finds State Law Barring Insurance Arbitrations Reverse-Preempts Federal Arbitration Act

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The case involved a dispute between the parties to a Reinsurance Participation Agreement (RPA). Defendants moved to compel arbitration, citing the Federal Arbitration Act and a provision in the RPA agreeing to resolve “[a]ll...more

Carlton Fields

First Circuit Upholds Arbitrator’s Denial Of Arbitrability Of Reinsurance Agreement, Finding No Manifest Disregard Of The Law

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Mountain Valley Property, Inc (MVP) entered into a three-year reinsurance participation agreement with Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Co. Inc. (AUCRA), which contained a mandatory arbitration clause as well as a...more

Carlton Fields

Procedural Provision Of FAA Inapplicable In California State Court Action When Arbitration Agreement Is Silent On Choice Of Law Or...

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A California appellate court has upheld an order denying a motion to compel arbitration due to the possibility of conflicting rules, finding that, when a contract is silent on choice of law, California procedural rules, not...more

Carlton Fields

New York Appellate Court Sides Against The Second Circuit And Holds Class Action Waivers Violate The NLRA

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Plaintiffs, former insurance agents for defendants New York Life Insurance Company and its related companies, brought a putative class action seeking recovery for allegedly illegal wage deductions and violations of overtime...more

Locke Lord LLP

ARIAS Certified Arbitrators: One Size Does Not Fit All

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The Board of Directors for the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (“ARIAS”) has been considering increasing ARIAS’ reach by expanding membership to brokers and policyholders. This is only in the exploratory...more

Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

Court Declines to Order Arbitration of Bad Faith Case, Applying California Over Federal Law

In Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist. v. Safety National Casualty Corp. (No. B275597, filed 7/12/17), (“LA Unified”), a California appeals court held that a California state court has the discretion under state law to refuse...more

Carlton Fields

Court Finds California Insurance Code Section 11658.5 Reverse-Preempts Section 4 Of The FAA

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National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA provided Seneca Family of Agencies with workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance for Seneca’s operations in California from 2004 to 2013. The parties...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Arbitration Options Put Global Insurers In The Driver Seat

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Globalization of the insurance market has seen an increase in the use and enforcement of international arbitration agreements in insurance policies. When tragedy strikes or loss occurs, insurers have a variety of options to...more

Carlton Fields

Kentucky Federal Court Orders Further Briefing On Whether The Federal Arbitration Act Or Kentucky Law Applies In Dispute Involving...

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The background of this case is as follows. State Insurance Commissioner Brian Maynard, acting as liquidator of the failed Kentucky Health Cooperative (“KYHC”), filed suit in Kentucky state court against CGI Technologies and...more

Carlton Fields

Reinsurance Arbitration Award Stands In Face Of Challenges To Rationality And Impartiality Of Decision

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Yosemite Insurance Co. (“Yosemite”) lost its challenge to an arbitration award that found Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. (“Nationwide”) was not required to cover a share of Yosemite’s settlement with the State of California...more

Carlton Fields

Third Circuit Reverses Order Denying Arbitration, Ruling That State Law Prohibiting Arbitration Of Insurance Matters Challenged...

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Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company appealed from the denial of its motion to compel arbitration in a dispute related to a reinsurance participation contract with South Jersey Sanitation Company. The trial...more

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