Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Eastern Europe, International arbitration, Language of arbitration

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WilmerHale

2013 saw the establishment of Serbia’s first arbitration institution which is not affiliated to the State – Belgrade Arbitration Center (BAC), created under the auspices of the Serbian Arbitration Association, a non-governmental and non-profit association of legal professionals and other individuals interested in arbitration law and promotion of arbitration. BAC is the third arbitral institution…

Uncategorized

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WilmerHale

I have written previously[1] about the preemptive effect of Section 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), which provides: A written provision in any maritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising out of such contract or transaction, or the refusal to perform the whole…

Arbitration, Book Review, Dispute Resolution, International arbitration, Mediation

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

For arbitration geeks, the beach is a challenge – How can you indulge your passion for international arbitration, without (further) outing yourself as a work-alcoholic without a life? I probably can’t help you much, in that category, but one possibility, with two sub-parts, comes to mind. Arbitration history lets you stay focussed on your one…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, Availability of arbitrators, Confidentiality, Expert evidence, Interim Orders, International arbitration, Joinder

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WilmerHale

The Danish Institute of Arbitration (“DIA”) revised its rules effective May 1, 2013, an overhaul from the prior 2008 iteration of its rules that brings the DIA rules into line with those of leading arbitral institutions. As part of these revisions, the DIA has both reorganized the structure of its rules and updated various key…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Costs in arbitral proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Witness

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WilmerHale

The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) has issued new rules that came into force on April 1, 2013. The rules changes are accompanied by new Practice Notes for cases administered by SIAC under its rules and the UNCITRAL rules that also came into force on the same date. While the changes do not reflect a…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, International arbitration, National Arbitration Laws, New York Convention, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

This post is a little different… I am in the process of revising my treatise, International Commercial Arbitration (Kluwer 2009), and would like to solicit comments from readers of the Kluwer Arbitration Blog on various chapters of the book. I would be happy to send individual Chapters, in their revised form, to those interested in…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitrators, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Uncategorized, United States

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WilmerHale

The U.S. Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) provides that a federal district court may vacate an arbitration award, among other reasons, “where there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators.” 9 U.S.C. §10(a). However, as illustrated by a recently decided case in the Southern District of New York, U.S. district courts apply different standards of…

Book Review, Commercial Arbitration, United States

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WilmerHale

Winter holidays invite fun reading, including good professional reading, that most of the rest of the year forbids. Not exactly beach reads, but the same idea. And, this year, readers from the United States with interests in international arbitration, had their choice among a host of new offerings. Three warrant special mention. First, Professor Bo…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Enforcement

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

In its important 2011 decision AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, the United States Supreme Court sharply limited the grounds on which a court may invalidate an arbitration agreement. A recent ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation MDL No. 2036, illustrates how lower courts are…

BIT

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

In August 2011, the tribunal in Abaclat and others v Argentina decided (by a majority) that it had jurisdiction over claims brought by approximately 60,000 Italian investors, and that the claims were admissible.[1] The Italian investors claim that Argentina has breached its obligations under the Argentina-Italy bilateral investment treaty (BIT) when it defaulted on and…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) has played key role in the resolution of international disputes for well over a hundred years now. Over the past decade, however, the PCA’s importance and activities have significantly increased. Thirty-five investor-state arbitrations under bilateral or multilateral investment treaties or investment laws are currently pending at the PCA, in…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings, English Law

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WilmerHale

A recent decision of the English Commercial Court (Lombard North Central plc & Anor v GATX Corporation [2012] EWHC 1067 (Comm)) has provided some insight and clarification into how the English courts will interpret and implement Section 9(1) of the Arbitration Act 1996. Section 9 is how English law has complied with Article II(3) of…

Class arbitration, Consumer contracts, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)

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WilmerHale

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T v. Concepcion last April appeared to signal the demise of class arbitration in the United States. That decision upheld a consumer contract arbitration agreement that waived the consumer’s right to initiate a class action lawsuit or arbitration. In its recent D.R. Horton v. Cuda decision (Case 12-CA-25764),…

Arbitration Agreements

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WilmerHale

When the strong federal policy in favor of honoring arbitration agreements in the U.S. comes into conflict with another strong legal principle, which one should come out on top? The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently illustrated this tension in Kolev v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery, 658 F.3d 1024, holding that…

English Law, Jurisdiction, kompetenz-kompetenz

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

Adjudicating contract disputes where it is alleged that the contract has been tainted by bribery, either in its procurement or in its performance, presents difficult issues for arbitrators, as well as for counsel. While the arbitrability of disputes involving allegations of bribery is generally no longer in doubt, a tribunal will still confront a number…

Arbitration, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), North America, Supreme Court, United States

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WilmerHale

In February 2011, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Stok & Associates, P.A., v. Citibank, N.A, (No. 10-514). The question presented was whether, under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), a party should be “required to demonstrate prejudice after the opposing party waived its contractual right to arbitrate by participating in litigation, in order…

Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, North America

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WilmerHale

On March 22, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in Bechtel do Brasil Construções Ltda. v. UEG Araucária Ltda., 638 F.3d 150, that the question whether a claim subject to arbitration was time-barred was for the arbitrator, not the district court, to decide, notwithstanding a New York state law that…

Class arbitration, Supreme Court, United States

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /4 Comments
WilmerHale

This post addresses the U.S. Supreme Court’s misadventures with class arbitration over the past decade. Those misadventures have resulted in striking confusion and waste of resources by litigants, courts and arbitral institutions. More broadly, the Court’s conflicting and often ill-considered decisions on the subject now threaten to undermine U.S. arbitration law more generally – turning…

International arbitration, New York Convention, North America, United States

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /3 Comments
WilmerHale

The recent decision of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (an intermediate state appellate court) in Sojitz Corp. v. Prithvi Information Solutions Ltd., 2011 N.Y. Slip Op. 1741; 2011 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1709, bolsters New York’s reputation as a jurisdiction friendly to international arbitration. In this case, which involved two non-U.S. parties in…

Domestic Courts, New York Convention

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

To paraphrase Professor Henkin’s classic aphorism about international law – most parties respect most international arbitration agreements most of the time. And likewise, the international arbitral process works smoothly for most parties most of the time. Still, pathological cases arise in international arbitration, as in other contexts. Unfortunately, those aberrations command disproportionate attention, sometimes obscuring…

Enforcement, English Law

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /2 Comments
WilmerHale

The recent Commercial Court decision of A v B [2010] EWHC 3302 (Comm) (16 December 2010) is notable for two reasons. Firstly, the Commercial Court provided clarification of the requirements for pursuing an application for security under section 70(7) of the Arbitration Act 1996. Secondly, the decision is an indication of how the Supreme Court…

Arbitration Agreements

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WilmerHale

If a national court is called upon, in the context of an application to refer parties to arbitration, to determine whether a valid arbitration agreement exists, how probing should the court’s examination of the existence or validity of the putative agreement be? Judicial authorities in countries that have adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International…

arbitrators’ conduct

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WilmerHale

The subject of codes of conduct for international arbitration practitioners has received considerable attention of late. On one side of the debate, several proposals for such a code of conduct have been circulated recently – one at the ICCA Congress in Rio de Janeiro, another by the International Law Association (“ILA”) Study Group on the…