In February 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied petitioner Hanwei Guo’s discovery application after determining that the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission...more
Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Arbitration Act allows a court to vacate an arbitration award based on “evident partiality” in the arbitrators. Citing section 10(a)(2), the petitioner moved to vacate a JAMS arbitration award...more
The Fourth Circuit confirmed a foreign arbitration award issued in favor of third-party defendant Chongqing Rato Power Co. Ltd., a Chinese equipment manufacturer, against defendant Roger Leon. The parties negotiated and...more
The plaintiff-appellant filed suit in Oklahoma state court seeking to rescind a contract it entered into with the defendants, claiming the contract was procured by fraud. Citing an arbitration clause in the contract, the...more
Coverage under most commercial general liability (CGL) policies applies only to liability arising from an “accident.” As such, injury or damage that an insured “expected or intended” to occur is not covered....more
6/23/2020
/ Amusement Parks ,
Bodily Injury ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
Gross Negligence ,
IA Supreme Court ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Workplace Injury ,
Wrongful Death
PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. sought a judgment that its dispute with Universal Life Insurance Co. was subject to litigation, not arbitration. In response, Universal Life moved to compel arbitration, and PB Life sought a...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court order denying the plaintiff’s motion to compel arbitration against two non-signatories to the relevant contract. The plaintiff was issued a credit card by defendant...more
Middletown Water Joint Venture LLC sought confirmation of an arbitration award finding it had a contractual right to charge the borough of Middletown for certain types of work and enjoining the borough from taking any action...more
The plaintiffs sued Public Storage seeking insurance coverage after Public Storage allegedly disposed of personal belongings the plaintiffs had in a rented storage unit. ...more
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court order that the defendant waived its right to arbitrate by withdrawing a venue-based arbitration argument from its motion to dismiss. ...more
Plaintiffs, former shareholders of a holding company for two New Jersey-based insurance companies, sued various affiliates of Aon Risk Services Companies alleging that Aon was negligent in failing to secure insurance coverage...more
A Maryland federal court recently weighed in on the still-murky world of insurance coverage for cybersecurity losses, finding replacement costs necessitated by a ransomware attack were “direct physical loss or damage” to a...more
3/6/2020
/ Additional Insured Endorsements ,
Business Interruption ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cross Motions ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cyber Policies ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Loss Prevention ,
Data Protection ,
Data Storage ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Hackers ,
Insurance Claims ,
Policy Terms ,
Popular ,
Property Damage ,
Ransomware ,
Software ,
Summary Judgment
Defendants, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s and its third-party claims administrator, CJW & Associates, sought to enforce a mandatory arbitration clause in a Lloyd’s policy issued to the plaintiffs. ...more
2/6/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Foreign Arbitral Awards ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Lloyds of London ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
McCarran-Ferguson Act ,
Third-Party
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a California district court order denying the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration, agreeing that the defendant waived its right to arbitrate by actively defending...more
A Puerto Rico district court dismissed a third-party action by defendant-policyholder Puma Energy Caribe LLC against the reinsurers of an insurance policy issued by plaintiff Integrand Assurance Co. Puma claimed that the...more
1/20/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Privity of Contract ,
Puerto Rico ,
Reinsurance ,
Reinsurance Agreements ,
Standing ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Beneficiaries
Everest Reinsurance Co. appealed from two district court orders. It claimed that this dispute with Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. was the same as a prior dispute that Penn National had arbitrated with two...more
1/20/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Reinsurance ,
Reinsurance Agreements ,
Sealed Records ,
Vacated
The Seneca Nation of Indians moved under Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to vacate certain arbitration awards issued in favor of the state of New York, finding that Seneca must pay the state millions in...more
12/5/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Contract Terms ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Indian Gaming ,
Indian Gaming Regulation Act ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Manifest Disregard ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Native American Issues ,
Revenue Sharing ,
Tribal Governments ,
Tribal-State Gaming Compacts
Two professional baseball teams — the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles — were parties to a partnership agreement granting exclusive broadcast rights to their baseball games to a third entity. The agreement had a...more
12/2/2019
/ American Arbitration Association ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Baseball ,
Broadcasting ,
Contract Terms ,
MLB ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Third-Party ,
Threshold Requirements
The petitioner moved to confirm an arbitration award, and the respondent cross-moved to vacate, claiming the arbitrator was guilty of misconduct in refusing to postpone the hearing upon the unexpected passing of a witness’...more
11/18/2019
/ Arbitration Awards ,
Arbitrators ,
Burden of Proof ,
Cross Motions ,
Manifest Disregard ,
Motion to Confirm ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Professional Misconduct ,
Vacatur ,
Witness Unavailability ,
Witnesses
The Southern District of New York granted a motion to compel arbitration of an employment dispute between the petitioners and the respondent. The petitioners also filed a motion to dismiss or stay a concurrent proceeding that...more
11/18/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Limitation of Liability Clause ,
Motion to Compel ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Stay ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Unconscionable Contracts
I am willing to go out on a limb and say that if asked whether an animal, say, a raccoon, is capable of committing malicious criminal acts, most humans would agree that the issue is beyond dispute. But, alas, most humans...more
A Mississippi federal court granted a motion to compel arbitration of a claim for reimbursement of medical expenses from the defendant, a company that provides health care sharing plan alternatives to those of Christian...more
The defendants moved to compel arbitration of a complex dispute concerning the parties’ investment in medical marijuana companies. The plaintiff claimed that the defendants breached a non-compete agreement and fiduciary...more
10/22/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Laches ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Operating Agreements ,
Statute of Limitations
The petitioner sought to confirm an arbitration award, which the respondent opposed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The respondent argued that the district court only had jurisdiction to confirm final arbitration...more
The High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England & Wales refused to sanction a scheme proposed by Prudential Assurance Co. and Rothesay Life PLC to transfer approximately 370,000 annuity policies from...more