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U.S. International Arbitration Digest
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Welcome to the Shearman & Sterling US International Arbitration Digest

Shearman & Sterling’s US International Arbitration Digest (US IA Digest) provides a centralized resource for newly released decisions issued by US courts.

The US IA Digest collects in one place important decisions on US international arbitration case law issued since January 1, 2016, compiled and organized into categories that are most relevant and useful to practitioners and other interested parties. The Digest will be updated on a rolling basis as new decisions are issued.

Please click on the categories on the right to access the cited decisions. Cases are searchable by federal court and by topic.

Newly Released Decisions
03/12/2024

Metropolitan Municipality of Lima v. Rutas de Lima S.A.C., No. 20-CV-02155-ACR (D.D.C. Mar. 12, 2024)

Court denied petition to vacate two arbitration awards and granted cross-motions to confirm them, where grounds for refusal or deferral of recognition or enforcement of the awards under the New York Convention were not met. Court noted that two independent tribunals had rejected claims of bribery related to an underlying infrastructure contract to build, improve, and maintain urban highways in Peru and declined to accept petitioner’s argument that denial of the bribery before the tribunal was fraudulent. Court also disagreed that the second arbitral tribunal committed misconduct in admitting some, but not the annexes, to a prosecutorial indictment it introduced after the close of evidence.

03/12/2024

Cowin Technology Co., Ltd. v. Amazon.com Services LLC, No. 23-CV-03054-ALC (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 12, 2024)

Court denied petition to vacate arbitral award and granted respondents’ cross-motion to confirm the award, where petitioner had not demonstrated that one of the seven exclusive grounds for refusal or deferral of recognition or enforcement of the award under Article V of the New York Convention applied.

03/11/2024

In re: Application of Bonsens.org for an Order Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to Conduct Discovery for Use in a Foreign Proceeding, No. 23-380 (2d. Cir. Mar. 11, 2024)

Court of appeals affirmed district court’s denial of application seeking discovery under 28 USC § 1782 from Pfizer Inc. for use in a suit applicant initiated against the French government in France. Court of appeals determined that the requested discovery was irrelevant to the jurisdictional issue on appeal in France and that the prospect of a merits review in that proceeding was too speculative to satisfy the statutory requirement that the discovery be “for use” in the French proceeding.

03/08/2024

Shenzhen Gooloo E-Commerce Co., Ltd. v. Pilot, Inc., No. 23-CV-00854-PAB-SBP (D. Colo. Mar. 8, 2024)

Court granted motion to dismiss petition to vacate arbitration award and ordered that the arbitration award be confirmed, where petitioner did not sufficiently allege that the arbitration award was in manifest disregard of the law or that the arbitrator exceeded his authority under the terms of the arbitration agreement.

03/04/2024

Bufkin Enterprises, L.L.C. v. Indian Harbor Insurance Company, No. 23-30171 (5th Cir. Mar. 4, 2024)

Court of appeals reversed district court’s denial of appellants’ motion to compel arbitration under the New York Convention. Court of appeals found that the doctrine of equitable estoppel under Louisiana law compelled arbitration because the appellee signatory to the arbitration agreement raised allegations of substantially interdependent and concerted misconduct by both non-signatory appellants and one or more of the signatory appellants to the arbitration agreement, even though the complaint later dismissed the signatory appellants as defendants.

02/27/2024

Thales Avionics, Inc. v. L3 Technologies, Inc., No. 24-CV-00112-JGK-RFT (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 27, 2024)

Court granted preliminary injunction in aid of arbitration to enjoin defendant from selling stake in parties’ joint venture, finding that plaintiff demonstrated sufficiently serious questions going to the merits of its claim, irreparable harm, and that the balance of hardships weighed decidedly in its favor.
 

01/24/2024

Bayport Financial Service (USA) Inc. v. Bayboston Managers, LLC, No. 22-CV-21306-JEM (S.D. Fla. Jan. 24, 2024)

Magistrate judge recommended that motion to compel arbitration be granted pursuant to the New York Convention, finding that an alter ego analysis was inapplicable here and thus, one defendant’s engagement in litigation could not waive the arbitral rights of another defendant.

01/12/2024

Zhongtie Dacheng (Zhuhai) Investment Management Co Ltd v. Yan, No. 8:22-CV-00461-KK-ADS (C.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2024)

Court confirmed an arbitral award pursuant to the New York Convention, holding that service was proper because respondents were mailed notice of the proceedings to their last known addresses listed on publicly available documents and their government-issued IDs. 

11/23/2021

Newell v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc., No. 18-CV-20743-CMA (S.D. Fla. Nov. 23, 2021)

Court granted motion to compel arbitration pursuant to the New York Convention for counts falling within the parties’ mandatory arbitration clause between plaintiff and one of the defendants but not the other.  Court found that the arbitration clause at issue was broad enough to encompass the plaintiff’s negligence claims, as the claims could not exist absent her employment and were premised on the employer’s duty to provide reasonable care and a safe environment in the workplace.  Court found the defendant, non-signatory to the arbitration agreement, had not made a sufficient showing of equitable estoppel such that it could compel arbitration of plaintiff’s claims against it.