In the inaugural issue of this newsletter, we examine significant developments, court rulings and trends to watch in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the United States....more
US Case Law Update -
US Supreme Court Decides That Courts, Not Arbitrators, Must Resolve Questions Over Conflicting Contracts -
In May 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important ruling on the “gateway” issue of...more
Users of arbitration know that one of the most important decisions they can make is the selection of the arbitrator. As arbitration grows more ubiquitous, more experienced arbitrators are being selected more frequently, and...more
ICSID Tribunal Finds That Colombia Violated the Minimum Standard of Treatment but Did Not Indirectly Expropriate the Investment in Eco Oro v. Colombia - In September 2021, an International Centre for Settlement of Investment...more
3/2/2022
/ 28 U.S.C. § 1782 ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Discovery ,
Dispute Resolution ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
Jurisdiction ,
Latin America ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
This edition offers insights regarding COVID-19 ’s impact on mergers and acquisitions and on construction projects, recent changes to International Chamber of Commerce rules, and developments relating to discovery in aid of...more
3/2/2021
/ 28 U.S.C. § 1782 ,
Acquisitions ,
Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Construction Project ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discovery ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Foreign Arbitral Awards ,
International Arbitration ,
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ,
International Construction Projects ,
Latin America ,
Material Adverse Change Clauses (MACs) ,
Mergers ,
UNCITRAL
Impact of COVID-19 on Cross-Border Disputes -
Cross-border disputes in the year 2020 are likely to be significantly impacted by the current outbreak of COVID-19, and disputes involving Latin America are no exception. The...more
5/18/2020
/ Arbitral Authority ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cuba ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Federal Pleading Requirements ,
Helms-Burton Act ,
International Arbitration ,
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ,
International Litigation ,
Latin America ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
SCOTUS ,
Signatures ,
Subcontractors ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
Civil litigation in many of the nation’s busiest commercial centers has been disrupted to varying degrees by measures to combat the COVID-19 virus. When the courts resume normal operations, there is expected to be a backlog...more
US Supreme Court Issues Trio of Arbitration Decisions -
During its 2018-19 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued decisions in three cases involving arbitration matters. These decisions, discussed further in our September 26,...more
10/29/2019
/ 28 U.S.C. § 1782 ,
Arbitrators ,
Class Arbitration ,
Commercial Electronic Messages ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cuba ,
Discovery ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Exceptions ,
Expropriation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Foreign Arbitral Awards ,
Foreign Tribunals ,
FRCP 37(e) ,
Helms-Burton Act ,
Henry Schein Inc v Archer and White Sales Inc ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Latin America ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Private Right of Action ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Request for Production ,
SCOTUS ,
Text Messages ,
Treble Damages ,
U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (FCSC) ,
Venezuela
As detailed in an October 2, 2018, Skadden client alert, the United States’ efforts to revise the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) reached a milestone on September 30, 2018, when the U.S., Mexico and...more
2/11/2019
/ Arbitration Awards ,
Argentina ,
Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Bolivia ,
Border Disputes ,
Brazil ,
Chile ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Ecuador ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Investment ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Guatemala ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
International Court of Justice (ICJ) ,
Investor Protection ,
Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) ,
Latin America ,
Manifest Disregard ,
Most-Favored Nations ,
NAFTA ,
Service of Process ,
Spain ,
UNCITRAL ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Uruguay
International arbitration has long offered participants the benefit of maintaining confidentiality in high-stakes cases. Like virtually all modern activity, however, it has become potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks. The...more
On December 5, 2018, Skadden hosted the webinar “Drafting International Dispute Resolution Clauses.” Topics included the importance of dispute resolution clauses, choosing between litigation and arbitration, drafting...more
1/21/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Best Practices ,
Confidential Communications ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Terms ,
Discovery ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Expert Witness ,
Forum Non Conveniens ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Multi-Party Litigation ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Pleading Standards ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Service of Process ,
Venue
On September 30, 2018, the United States, Mexico and Canada announced they had reached an agreement to revamp the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which now will be known as the United...more
10/3/2018
/ Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Canada ,
Expropriation ,
Foreign Investment ,
International Arbitration ,
Investor Protection ,
Investors ,
Mexico ,
Most-Favored Nations ,
NAFTA ,
Trump Administration ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
US Courts Will Decide Whether to Enforce US$2 Billion Award Against Petróleos de Venezuela -
In April 2018, an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal awarded US$2.04 billion in damages to two subsidiaries of U.S....more
7/13/2018
/ Affiliates ,
Alien Tort Statute ,
Animal Science Products Inc v Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co Ltd ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Application of Foreign Laws ,
Bonds ,
Brazil ,
Breach of Contract ,
China ,
Class Action ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Corporate Liability ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cybersecurity ,
Damages ,
Discrimination ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ,
International Litigation ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Jesner et al. v. Arab Bank ,
Joint Protocols ,
Judicial Deference ,
Latin America ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Oil & Gas ,
One Belt One Road (OBOR) ,
Petrobras ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Venezuela
Courts in many countries, including the U.S., generally enforce contracts with clauses specifying international arbitration as the preferred avenue for resolving disputes. Accordingly, when drafting such provisions, due...more
Financial institutions have historically been skeptical about arbitration in the commercial context. As a result, the documentation used in commercial financial transactions has generally required that disputes be submitted...more
On January 11, 2018, Mexico became the 162nd country to sign the 1965 Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID Convention or the Convention)....more
NAFTA’s Future Looks Increasingly Uncertain -
The United States, Mexico and Canada have now completed the fifth round of negotiations concerning the renegotiation of NAFTA, and the future of the treaty is looking...more
12/19/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Bonds ,
Canada ,
Cuba ,
Default ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) ,
Financial Crisis ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
Jurisdiction ,
Latin America ,
Mexico ,
NAFTA ,
Negotiations ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Property ,
Peru ,
Poison Pill ,
SCOTUS ,
Sovereign Debt ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Treaties ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela ,
Venezuela v Helmerich & Payne ,
Writ of Attachment
On June 1, 2017, Skadden hosted the webinar “Minimizing Risks and Maximizing Opportunities in China-Latin America Investment.” Topics of discussion included the increasing importance of Chinese investment in Latin America,...more
7/21/2017
/ Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Brazil ,
China ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Environmental Policies ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) ,
International Arbitration ,
Joint Venture ,
Latin America ,
Natural Resources ,
Risk Mitigation
On February 6, 2017, Skadden hosted the webinar “Minimizing Risks and Maximizing Opportunities in China-Latin America Investment.” Topics of discussion included the increasing importance of Chinese investment in Latin...more
3/1/2017
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Buyers ,
China ,
CIETAC ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Foreign Investment ,
Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) ,
International Arbitration ,
Joint Venture ,
Latin America ,
New York Convention ,
Outbound Transactions ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sellers
One of the benefits of using arbitration to resolve international disputes is the availability of worldwide mechanisms to enforce an arbitral award. For example, the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement...more
Despite recent criticism from some quarters concerning the use of investment treaties and free trade agreements, the Chinese investment treaty system remains firmly in place. Since 1982, the People's Republic of China (PRC)...more
2/6/2017
/ Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
China ,
Expropriation ,
Hong Kong ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
Investor Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Macau ,
Singapore ,
UNCITRAL
A number of significant international arbitrations, particularly involving claims by investors against sovereign states, are venued in Washington, D.C. A September 30, 2016, decision by the U.S. District Court for the...more
10/13/2016
/ Arbitration Awards ,
Arbitrators ,
Argentina ,
Bilateral Investment Treaties ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Evidence ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Impartiality ,
International Arbitration ,
Investors ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Standard of Review ,
UK ,
UNCITRAL ,
Young Lawyers
On June 23, 2016, Skadden hosted a webinar titled “Foreign Governments, U.S. Courts and International Arbitration.” Topics of discussion included the settlement of the Argentine sovereign debt litigation, enforcement of...more
7/14/2016
/ Arbitration Awards ,
Argentina ,
Cuba ,
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) ,
Foreign Sovereigns ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
Iran ,
Post-Judgment Enforcement Actions ,
Sovereign Debt ,
State Sponsors of Terrorism ,
Terrorism Insurance
On November 5, 2015, after seven years of high-stakes negotiations, the Office of the United States Trade Representative released the draft Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed free trade agreement among the United...more
Most investment treaties assure investors that, in the event of expropriation, they will receive compensation based on the market value of the enterprise at the time of seizure (excluding the negative valuation effects of any...more