US International Arbitration

A collection of the most recent US international arbitration decisions is available here. Decisions can be quickly retrieved by using the filter tools below.

• Preble-Rish Haiti, S.A. v. BB Energy USA, LLC, No. 22-20021 (5th Cir. July 14, 2022)

  07/14/2022

  Court reversed and vacated writ of attachment because lower court erroneously determined that defendant, a Haitian government agency, had explicitly waived its sovereign immunity from prejudgment attachment.  Regardless of whether a contract contains language waiving sovereign immunity from suit generally, waiver of prejudgment attachment must be express, clear, and unambiguous.

• Outokumpu Stainless Steel USA, LLC v. Coverteam SAS, No. 17-10944 (11th Cir. July 8, 2022)

  07/08/2022

  Court of appeals affirmed the district court’s decision for a non-signatory to enforce an arbitration agreement where the non-signatory was a defined party covered by the arbitration clause.

• The Cornfeld Group, LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, No. 21-CV-62510-FAM (S.D. Fla. June 27, 2022)

  06/27/2022

  Court denied plaintiff’s motion to remand the action to state court and granted defendants’ motion to compel arbitration under the New York Convention.  Court found it had jurisdiction under the New York Convention, because plaintiff’s bad faith claim was conceivably related to the parties’ insurance relationship and may fall within the arbitration clause.  Court found that the provision’s delegation clause saved the question of arbitrability for the arbitrator.

• Kuehne + Nagel Inc. v. Baker Hughes, No. 21-CV-8470-KPF (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2022)

  06/23/2022

  Court granted defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and stay instant action under the FAA.  Court found the arbitration agreement was enforceable, that the dispute fell within its scope, and that the issue of arbitrability was delegated to the arbitrator by incorporation of the ICC and CPR rules.  Court found the arbitration provision was mandatory, although the agreement stated that either party “may” refer the dispute to arbitration 30 days after commencing mediation.

• Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC v. Mahalaxmi Continental Limited, No. 22-CV-00781-WSH (W.D. Pa. June 14, 2022)

  06/14/2022

  Court granted plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) enjoining defendants from pursuing and the AAA from further processing defendants’ demand for arbitration.  Court found that plaintiff had established more than a reasonable probability of success on the merits that it never agreed to submit to arbitration, that a TRO was necessary to prevent immediate and irreparable harm, that the balance of harms clearly and strongly weighed in favor of plaintiff, and that granting of a TRO was in the public interest.

• Phoenix III Association, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, No. 1:21-CV-00514-TFM-M (S.D. Ala. Apr. 26, 2022)

  04/26/2022

  Court granted motion to compel arbitration, finding the four jurisdictional requirements of the New York Convention were satisfied, as there was an agreement in writing; the arbitration agreement provided for arbitration in New York, a territory of a signatory of the New York Convention; the dispute arose out of an insurance agreement, which is commercial in nature; and at least one of the parties to the insurance agreement was not an American.  Court denied request to dismiss the matter but granted a stay pending arbitration pursuant to the FAA.

• Washington Schools Risk Management Pool v. American Re-Insurance Company, No. 21-CV-00874-LK (W.D. Wash. Apr. 21, 2022)

  04/21/2022

  Court granted motion to compel arbitration after considering whether Washington state law barred application of the New York Convention.  Washington law bars enforcement of certain arbitration clauses in insurance contracts.  Federal statute, by way of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, provides that state insurance law reverse-preempts federal law.  Court found that the New York Convention is not an ‘Act of Congress’ subject to reverse-preemption by the McCarran-Ferguson Act and granted the motion because the arbitration clause was enforceable and the claims arbitrable.

• Conner v. Regions Bank, No. 3:22-CV-00159 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 19, 2022)

  04/19/2022

  Court found defendant did not waive its agreement to arbitrate, where plaintiff waited to invoke its right to arbitrate for several months until case was transferred to the state circuit court.

• Spliethoff Transport B.V. v. Phyto-Charter Inc., No. 21-1359 (2d Cir. Apr. 15, 2022)

  04/15/2022

  Court of appeals dismissed case for lack of jurisdiction, finding that the district court’s order was not a final appealable decision within the meaning of the FAA because it had deferred a decision on petitioner’s request that the court appoint an arbitrator in the event the parties were unable to agree. 

• Caston v. McAfee, No. 3:21-CV-1890-G-BK (N.D. Tex. Apr. 13, 2022)

  04/13/2022

  Court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claims and compel arbitration pursuant to the FAA.  Court dismissed the action, rather than stay the proceedings, as all the issues raised by plaintiff were to be submitted to arbitration.

• Ball v. Tesla Motors, Inc., No. 2:22-CV-00005-LA (E.D. Wis. Mar. 31, 2022)

  03/31/2022

  Court granted respondent’s motion to compel arbitration under the FAA, finding that claims of “fraud in the inducement of the contract generally,” as opposed to the arbitration clause itself, must be submitted to the arbitrator.  Court stayed the action pending arbitration.

• Skymark Properties Corporation, Inc. v. Katebian, No. 2:20-CV-12372-SFC-DRG (E.D. Mich. March 14, 2022)

  03/14/2022

  Court issued a report and recommendation denying defendants’ motion to compel arbitration and grant in part and deny as moot in part defendants’ motions to dismiss in a RICO case.  Court found that because the arbitration agreement provided for arbitration in California, the proper course of action was to dismiss claims covered by the agreement without prejudice.  Court found that plaintiffs had failed to sufficiently plead causation for the remaining claims.

• Full Moon Logistics v. Bald Eagle Logistics, Inc., No. 8:21-CV-02695-WFJ-AAS (M.D. Fla. Feb. 16, 2022)

  02/16/2022

  Court granted motion to compel arbitration, finding that a valid arbitration agreement exists between the parties and plaintiffs did not demonstrate procedural and substantive unconscionability.

• The Branch of Citibank, N.A. Established in the Republic of Argentina v. De Nevares, No. 1:21-CV-06125-VM (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2022)

  02/13/2022

  Court found that a foreign branch of a banking entity had standing and capacity to bring an action under Rule 12(b)(1) and 17(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.  Court granted plaintiff’s request to compel arbitration and issued a preliminary injunction on defendant’s claim in an Argentine court.

• Republic of Kazakhstan v. Chapman, No. 1:21-CV-03507-JGK (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 11, 2022)

  02/11/2022

  Court granted plaintiffs’ motion to remand to state court as to claims by Kazakhstan, but denied the motion as to the remaining plaintiff, finding that the subject matter jurisdiction clause under 9 USC § 203 and remand provision under 9 USC § 205 must be read separately.  Court granted defendants’ motion to compel arbitration under the New York Convention as to the remaining plaintiff, finding that an agreement had been formed between the parties and the agreement clearly and unmistakably delegated the issue of arbitrability to the arbitrator. 

• Leo Middle East FZE v. Zhe Zhang, No. 21-CV-03985-CRB (N.D. Cal. Jan. 24, 2022)

  01/24/2022

  Court denied motion to compel arbitration, finding that plaintiffs and cross-defendants waived their right to arbitration via participation in litigation, and to the extent parallel proceedings might result in inconsistent rulings, plaintiffs and cross defendants created such problem by waiving their right to arbitrate.

• Binh v. King & Spalding LLP, No. 4:21-CV-02234 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 10, 2022)

  01/10/2022

  Court granted motion to dismiss and compel arbitration under the New York Convention, finding that the dispute fell within the scope of the parties’ agreement, and that because the agreement had a broad delegation clause, the issue of arbitrability should be resolved by arbitration.

• Universal Properties Management Use, LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, No. 1:21-CV-23509-JLK (S.D. Fla. Dec. 21, 2021)

  12/21/2021

  Court denied plaintiff’s motion to remand, finding that the arbitration agreement was governed by the New York Convention, and thus the court had jurisdiction.  Court found that the signed application for the insurance policy constituted an agreement in writing.

• Air-Con Inc. v. Daikin Applied Latin America LLC, No. 19-2248 (1st Cir. Dec. 20, 2021)

  12/20/2021

  Court of appeals reversed district court’s order compelling arbitration pursuant to the FAA, finding that the district court impermissibly placed the burden of disproving the existence of a valid arbitral agreement on the non-moving party and did not comply with the requirement to draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party.  Court of appeals concluded that moving party failed to demonstrate the existence of a valid and enforceable agreement to arbitrate the dispute.

• Hatfield v. MM Imports Inc., No. 7:21-CV-00055-REW-EBA (E.D. Ky. Dec. 15, 2021)

  12/15/2021

  Court granted motions to dismiss and compel arbitration under the FAA, finding a valid and enforceable agreement to arbitrate.

• CMB Infrastructure Group IX LP v. Cobra Energy Investment Finance Inc., No. 21-CV-00214-JAD-DJA (D. Nev. Nov. 15, 2021)

  11/15/2021

  Court granted defendants’ motion to compel arbitration, finding that (i) an arbitration agreement existed, (ii) the dispute fell within the scope of such agreement, and (iii) both signatory and nonsignatory parties to the agreement may compel or be compelled to arbitrate the claims in the case.

• CMB Infrastructure Group IX, LP v. Cobra Energy Investment Finance, Incorporated, No. 21-CV-00214-JAD-DJA (D. Nev. Nov. 15, 2021)

  11/15/2021

  Court granted motion to compel arbitration for certain claims, finding that the arbitration clause remained active after termination of the agreement and that both signatory and non-signatory defendants could compel arbitration.

• Rohm Semiconductor USA LLC v. Maxpower Semiconductor Inc., No. 21-1709 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 12, 2021)

  11/12/2021

  Court of appeal affirmed decision compelling arbitration and dismissing declaratory judgment action, finding that (i) the underlying agreement was not ambiguous; (ii) the dispute was international; and (iii) the parties intended to delegate arbitrability to an arbitrator.

• ADT, L.L.C. v. Richmond, No. 21-10023 (5th Cir. Nov. 11, 2021)

  11/11/2021

  Court vacated lower court’s dismissal for want of diversity jurisdiction, holding that between the parties there was a binding agreement to arbitrate. Court remanded the case for the district court to determine if a third-party who might defeat diversity jurisdiction should be joined as indispensable.

• FMC Corporation v. Syngenta Crop Protection AG, No. 21-CV-00487 (W.D.N.Y. Nov. 11, 2021)

  11/11/2021

  Court granted motion to dismiss ruling in a patent dispute case.  Court held that the arbitration clause in the parties’ collaboration agreement clearly required the parties to submit their claims to binding arbitration.

• Micula v. Government of Romania, No. 17-CV-02332-APM (D.D.C. Nov. 8, 2021)

  11/08/2021

  Court granted motion to enter judgment in favor of petitioners for accrued sanctions.  Court found that by not answering petitioners’ interrogatories within 14 days, respondent had failed to fulfill the conditions that would allow them to avoid imposition of at least some of the accrued sanctions.

• Hermes of Paris, Inc. v. Swain, No. 20-3451 (2nd Cir. Nov. 8, 2021)

  11/08/2021

  Court affirmed lower court’s confirmation of arbitration award dismissing respondent-appellant’s claims as untimely.  Court found that limitations defenses were arbitrable under the parties’ arbitration agreement because the presumption of arbitrability was not rebutted by any express language in the contract. Court also upheld an anti-filing injunction given petitioner-appellees history of vexatious and duplicative litigation.

• Hawley v. Boysen, No. 20-CV-02562-JWL-TJJ (D. Kan. Nov. 4, 2021)

  11/04/2021

  Court denied motion to compel arbitration in a breach of contract case.  Court found that there was no meeting of the minds on the question of mandatory arbitration and that therefore there was no arbitration agreement to enforce.

• Nu-X Ventures v. SBL LLC dba Global Cannabinoids, No. 21-CV-0354-GNS (W.D .Ky. October 21, 2021)

  10/21/2021

  Court granted defendant’s motion to compel arbitration in a contract dispute regarding the shipment of cannabinoid gummies.  Court found the arbitration clause was validly part of the contract and plaintiff could not rebut the presumption that the arbitration clause was enforceable because the clause mirrored one in another contract signed by plaintiff and plaintiffs’ business was sophisticated enough to have read the arbitration clause despite the fact that it was not conspicuous.

• Weinstein v. Katapult Group Inc., No. 21-CV-05175-PJH (N.D. Cal. October 15, 2021)

  10/15/2021

  Court denied defendant’s motion to compel arbitration in a contract dispute arising out of an acquisition.  Court found no “hint” of the parties’ intent to arbitrate disputes in the acquisition documents.

• Martinique Properties LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, No. 21-CV-00209-BCB-SMB (D. Neb. October 15, 2021)

  10/15/2021

  Court held appraisal provision in insurance policy constituted an arbitration agreement under the FAA.  Court also found that complainant failed to sufficiently allege grounds to vacate the insurance award under the New York Convention because complainant failed to allege incapacity, improper notice, or that the award did not accord with the relevant agreement.

• Cheruvoth v. Seadream Yacht Club Inc., No. 20-14450 (11th Cir. Oct. 6, 2021)

  10/06/2021

  Court of appeals affirmed district court’s order compelling arbitration under the New York Convention.  Court of appeals found written agreements existed between the parties, as the conditions precedent to contract formation were substantially complied with and a copy of the executed agreements was supplied to defendants.

• Podgorny v. Ally Finance, No. 21-CV-00288 (D. Ariz. Sept. 23, 2021)

  09/23/2021

  Court denied defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and granted motion to dismiss with leave to amend in a case involving pro se plaintiffs.  Court found that it could not determine whether the disputes were covered by an arbitration agreement until the plaintiffs had filed a complaint with sufficient factual allegations to determine whether arbitration was necessary.

• Tieszen v. Ebay Inc., No. 21-CV-04002-KES (D.S.D. Sept. 21, 2021)

  09/21/2021

  Court granted defendant’s motion to compel arbitration in a product liability suit.  Court found that there was a valid and enforceable arbitration clause in the user agreement consented to by the plaintiff and that the claim fell within its scope.

• Absolute Nevada LLC v. Grand Majestic Riverboat Company LLC, No. 21-CV-11479-PKC (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 17, 2021)

  09/17/2021

  Court granted motion to confirm arbitral awards against respondent in a case arising out of a shipping charter dispute.  Court stayed motion to confirm arbitral award against third party pending outcome of an appeal.

• Brice v. Plain Green LLC, No. 19-15707 (9th Cir. September 16, 2021)

  09/16/2021

  Court reversed district court’s order denying defendants’ motion to compel arbitration in a RICO action and remanded with instructions to stay the case and compel the parties to proceed with arbitration.  Court concluded an agreement delegating to an arbitrator the question of whether an arbitration agreement is enforceable must be upheld unless the delegation provision itself is unenforceable.  Court found that the delegation provision was not an invalid prospective waiver and therefore arbitration could proceed.

• Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Bonta, No. 20-15291 (9th Cir. Sept. 15, 2021)

  09/15/2021

  Court held that California Government Code § 12953 and Labor Code § 433 were preempted to the extent that they applied to executed arbitration agreements covered by the FAA.  Court also vacated district court’s preliminary injunction, holding that Section § 432.6 was not preempted by the FAA because it applied only in the absence of an agreement to arbitrate and expressly provided for the validity and enforceability of agreements to arbitrate.

• Synopsys, Inc. v. Avatar Integrated Systems, Inc., No. 20-CV-04151-WHO (N.D. Cal. Sept. 9, 2021)

  09/09/2021

  Court granted defendant’s motion to stay the entire action under the FAA, including a stay of non-arbitrable issues, finding that even though it was not apparent that the FAA mandated a stay of the entire action, the conservation of judicial resources from a discretionary stay of the entire action outweighed any potential harm to plaintiff.

• Ullrich v. Ullrich, No. 3:21-CV-00147-TJC-PDB (M.D. Fla. Sept. 3, 2021)

  09/03/2021

  Court denied in part and granted in part a motion to compel arbitration between parties subject to different arbitration agreements.  Court’s decision turned on whether the parties had “clear and unmistakable evidence of the parties” intent to submit questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator. 

• Nordic Water Products AB v. Veolia Water Solutions Technologies Support, No. 21-CV-317-FL (E.D.N.C. Sept. 1, 2021)

  09/01/2021

  Court granted motions to compel arbitration in related cases arising out of a patent dispute. Court found that the issues raised by the plaintiffs were subject to arbitration under the terms of the parties’ arbitration agreement. 

• ArtiCure Inc. v. Meng No. 19-4067, No. 19-4067 (6th Cir. Aug. 27, 2021)

  08/27/2021

  Court considered whether Ohio law permitted defendants to enforce an arbitration clause even though they did not sign the contract.  Court agreed with district court in rejecting defendant’s equitable estoppel argument and one of their agency arguments but remanded for reconsideration of defendants’ second agency claim.

• Iberoamericana de Hidrocarburos S.A. v. Exterran Corporation, No. 4:21-CV-01840 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 19, 2021)

  08/19/2021

  Court granted defendants’ motion to compel ICC arbitration and to stay the case pending arbitration.  Pursuant to the FAA, court found a valid agreement to arbitrate and concluded that the dispute fell within the scope of the agreement.

• Cathay Capital Holdings II, LP v. Zheng, No. 3:20-CV-01365-JBA (D. Conn. Aug. 18, 2021)

  08/18/2021

  Court granted defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and stay the case.  Court found that the parties intended to delegate the question of arbitrability to the arbitrator by incorporating the UNCITRAL and HKAIC rules into the agreements.  Court denied plaintiff’s motion to remand to state court, finding the action related to arbitration agreements subject to the New York Convention, which confers subject matter jurisdiction on the court.

• J.M. Aquino P.C. v. Imperial Pacific International (CNMI), LLC, No. 1:20-CV-00009 (D.N. Mar. Is. Aug. 18, 2021)

  08/18/2021

  Court granted motion to strike under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f) all claims based on an agreement subject to a valid arbitration clause. 

• Cruz v. Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, No. 21-CV-00809-JGB-SHK (C.D. Cal. August 12, 2021)

  08/12/2021

  Court denied defendant’s motion to compel arbitration finding defendant did not have standing to enforce the arbitration clause as a third-party beneficiary to a lease.  Court held that the parties clearly chose to include successors or assigns in the arbitration clause but that this did not include defendant.

• CLMS Management Services Limit, et al v. Amwins Brokerage of Georgia LL, et al, No. 20-35428 (9th Cir. Aug. 12, 2021)

  08/12/2021

  Court affirmed district court’s order compelling arbitration in an insurance dispute involving U.S. policy-holders and a U.K. insurance company following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.  Court found that the McCarran-Ferguson Act, a Washington law that prohibits the enforcement of arbitration clauses in insurance contracts, does not prohibit enforcement of the New York Convention such that Washington law controls, because the Convention is self-executing and therefore not reverse-preempted by the McCarran-Ferguson Act.

• Takiedine v. 7-Eleven Inc., No. 17-CV-04518 (E.D. Pa. Jul. 29, 2021)

  07/29/2021

  Court granted plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration of a previous order compelling arbitration.  Court found on reconsideration that the arbitration agreement at issue was invalid.  Court allowed the motion despite it being untimely because it found that denying reconsideration would leave the parties in legal limbo.

• Gerlach v. Tickmark Inc., No. 21-CV-02768 (N.D.Cal. July. 28, 2021)

  07/28/2021

  Court granted motion to compel arbitration in a contract dispute.  Court found that the parties entered into a valid arbitration agreement and “clearly and unmistakably” intended to delegate questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator.

• Mitas Endustri Sanayi Ticaret A.S. v. Valmont Industries Inc., No. 20-CV-01285-CFC (D. Del. Jul. 27, 2021)

  07/27/2021

  Court granted defendant’s motion to compel arbitration of claims alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and deceptive trade practices. Court found that there was a valid arbitration provision in a Non-Disclosure Agreement between the parties.

• Lavvan Inc. v. Amyris Inc., No. 20-CV-07386 (S.D.N.Y. Jul. 26, 2021)

  07/26/2021

  Court denied a motion to compel arbitration of claims alleging trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement.  Court found that there was an explicit agreement between the parties that intellectual property disputes would be determined by a court and that requiring the parties to arbitrate would ignore the clear language of the parties’ agreement.