Life sciences globalization fuels new developments in international arbitration
The substantive reforms contained within the Arbitration Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 24 February, will come into full force on 1 August 2025. The reforms will apply to all English-seated arbitrations commenced on...more
On June 5, 2025, the US Supreme Court held, in a unanimous decision, that civil litigants in US courts seeking to enforce an arbitration award against foreign nations or instrumentalities do not need to meet a higher standard...more
In a highly anticipated ruling published last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in NextEra Energy v. Spain that U.S. district courts have jurisdiction to enforce arbitral awards issued in intra-EU...more
Since its implementation in 1995, the Arbitration Law of China (the “Current Arbitration Law”) has not undergone significant revisions, despite the substantial development in international arbitration practices. However, in...more
In a recent order, the Delaware Court of Chancery “reluctantly” confirmed an arbitrator’s award arising from a post-closing purchase price adjustment dispute between a seller of a chain of grocery stores and a private equity...more
The English Court has, for the first time, considered the meaning of a “catastrophe”, as well as how Hours Clauses work in the context of non-damage business interruption losses claimed under two Property Catastrophe Excess...more
On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as the RICO statute, may be used to enforce a foreign arbitration award. The Court’s opinion in...more
In 2022, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law, some of which related to COVID-19. This Insight provides an overview of key 2022 developments, with links to more detailed...more
Since late fall 2021, we have seen a steady flow of arbitration awards emerge in Ontario and British Columbia that consider issues relating to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the unionized workplace. In this...more
Last week in Badgerow v. Walters, the United States Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that under the Federal Arbitration Act, a federal court cannot consider an underlying dispute to determine whether it has federal...more
In a little-noticed recent decision, a nearly-unanimous U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the jurisdiction of the federal courts to confirm, vacate or modify arbitration awards under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)....more
A federal court must have an independent jurisdictional basis to confirm or vacate an arbitration award and cannot “look through” to the underlying dispute to establish jurisdiction, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a case...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has now granted certiorari to decide if federal courts have subject matter jurisdiction to confirm or vacate an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Sections 9 and 10. 9 U.S.C. §§...more
In review of the 2020 statistics from various arbitral institutions, the clear message is that international businesses have had a taste of virtual arbitrations and they like it. Record-breaking caseloads (and amounts in...more
In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed a district court’s order confirming an arbitration award in favor of a former Costco employee who had been fired for selling cocaine on company property....more
People often agree to arbitrate their disputes because they presume that, unlike litigation, the proceedings will be confidential. An increasing number of court decisions suggest that this presumption may be unwarranted....more
In the field of labor relations, there exist some rare occurrences, things that happen so seldom that it seems as if they are impossible. As we’ve previously discussed, one such “unicorn sighting” is the NLRB overturning an...more
• In Deasang Corp. v. NutraSweet Co., the Appellate Division overturned a ruling by a lower court vacating an arbitral award on the ground that the arbitral panel manifestly disregarded the law. The Appellate Division...more
In the past several months, China has adopted new arbitration rules and unveiled a new arbitration center to help resolve the inevitable international disputes arising from the development of The Silk Road Economic Belt and...more
Employers face several trade-offs when considering the implementation of mandatory arbitration policies. One of the positive attributes of arbitration, from an employer’s perspective, is the avoidance of a runaway jury award....more
One of the most often overlooked features of arbitration in the context of international commercial disputes is the certainty provided by a final award. Recently, Dow Agrosciences paid Bayer Cropscience more than $455 million...more
Within weeks, the Second and Third Circuits reached opposite conclusions over federal jurisdiction to confirm, modify or vacate arbitration awards. The Second Circuit now allows courts to look through the face of the...more
On December 12, 2013, we reported on a United States District Court’s confirmation of a roughly $400 million Mexican arbitration award entered against an oil company affiliated with the Mexican government, notwithstanding...more
California’s prohibition on non-competition agreements is less than absolute. For example, non-compete agreements may be enforced against partners or sellers of businesses. Additionally, in SingerLewak LLP v. Andrew Gantman...more
A federal judge in Houston recently vacated an arbitration award where the reinsurance agreement specified that the arbitration of any disputes would proceed “under the auspices of the ICC,” but the arbitration actually...more