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.
Newly Released Decisions
Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., No. 17-1272 (U.S. Jan. 8, 2019)
Supreme Court held that when an arbitration agreement delegates the question of the arbitrability of a particular dispute to an arbitrator a court may not override the parties’ arbitration agreement, even if the court considers the argument that the arbitration agreement applies to a dispute is wholly groundless.
Wolfe v. Carnival Corporation, No. 1:18-CV-23463-KMW (S.D. Fla. Jan. 4, 2019)
Court granted defendant’s motion to stay proceedings and to compel arbitration, finding claimants’ only argument that the arbitration agreement does not fall within the scope of the arbitration clause was incorrect.
Voorhees v. Tolia No. 18-1949 (3d Cir. Jan. 4, 2019)
Court of appeals vacated the judgment of the district court and remanded for further proceedings. Court held the district court did not address whether or why any of the plaintiff’s claims were subject to the arbitration agreement concluding it was not immediately apparent that all of them were.
In re Application of Luis Javier Martinez Sampedro for an Order Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to Conduct Discovery for Use in a Foreign Proceeding, No. 3:18-MC-00047-JBA (D. Conn. Jan. 3, 2019)
Court overruled defendants’ objection to the ruling on defendants’ motion to compel reciprocal discovery. Court found it could not set aside the order of the magistrate judge because defendant did not show the magistrate judge’s decision was beyond the scope of the court’s discretion or that it was clearly erroneous or contrary to law.
Amazon Digital Services, LLC v. Green Publishing, Ltd., No. 2:18-CV-00475-RAJ (W.D. Wash. Jan. 2, 2019)
Court ordered judgment be entered in favor of plaintiff confirming an arbitral award rendered on 11 January 2018 and enjoining defendants from performing certain actions. Court held the conditions for confirming the award were found and noted the defendants made no arguments that the arbitrator exceeded her powers in this this case or that she strayed from interpretation and application of the parties’ agreement.