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Mealey's International Arbitration

  • March 24, 2026

    COMMENTARY: English High Court Ruling Marks Rare Successful Jurisdiction Challenge Under Section 67, Arbitration Act 1996

    By Robert Bolgar-Smith and Keir Baker

  • April 27, 2026

    $43.5M Judgment Entered Against Dominican Republic For Landfill Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge entered final judgment confirming an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award against the Dominican Republic and in favor of a Jamaican landfill investor, ordering that the investor be paid more than $43.5 million in damages and $133,000 in attorney fees awarded by the tribunal, plus several years of compound interest accrued on the damages.

  • April 27, 2026

    French Company Seeks To Enforce More Than $41M Award Against Argentina

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 12 years after an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal issued an award worth more than $41 million in damages, interest and fees against the Republic of Argentina, a French water treatment company filed a petition in District of Columbia federal court seeking to enforce the arbitral award for the abrupt termination of its contract precipitated by the Argentine financial crisis.

  • April 27, 2026

    High Court Won’t Review Denial Of Bid To Enforce Foreign Judgment Against Zimbabwe

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 27 denied two Mauritian mining investors’ petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of an alleged split between the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and another circuit court over the “implied waiver” exception to sovereign immunity, in a case in which the D.C. Circuit found no jurisdiction over the investors’ attempt to enforce a $50 million award against Zimbabwe and its mining regulators.

  • April 24, 2026

    Judge Stays Qatari Company, Founder’s Bid To Confirm Award Against Saudi Arabia

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted Saudi Arabia’s cross-motion to stay a petition to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award against it in favor of a Qatari pharmaceutical company and its founder until Saudi Arabia’s set-aside application in English courts is resolved, writing that a stay will not prejudice the petitioners.

  • April 23, 2026

    Court Erred In Refusing To Stay Suit Pending Arbitration With Foreign Insurers

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 22 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that compelled arbitration as to the foreign insurers but denied it as to the domestic insurers in a Hurricane Ida coverage dispute but concluded that the court abused its discretion by denying the insurers’ motion to stay the lawsuit pending arbitration of the Louisiana hospital insured’s claims against the foreign insurers.

  • April 21, 2026

    Judge Adopts Recommendation, Confirms $119,000 Attorney Fee Award In Airline Dispute

    MIAMI — A Florida federal judge adopted a magistrate’s report and recommendation and confirmed an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award resolving a dispute between shareholders in a Venezuelan airline, ordering the respondent to pay more than $119,000 in attorney fees awarded by the tribunal plus interest and declining to award additional fees incurred litigating the matter in federal court.

  • April 21, 2026

    Tribunal Excludes Attorney From Arbitration Until Case With Arbitrator Ends

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on April 20 published a procedural order in a claim brought against the Republic of Panama by U.S. real estate investors in which it granted a request by Panama to exclude one member of the claimants’ counsel from participating in the arbitration until the president arbitrator’s engagement as expert by her firm in a separate arbitration ends.

  • April 15, 2026

    Honduras’ Bid To Bifurcate $1.6B Island City Arbitration Denied By Tribunal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on April 14 published a tribunal’s decision denying the Republic of Honduras’ request to bifurcate an arbitration brought against it by several U.S. companies that invested in a chartered island city in a Honduran special economic zone and now seek $1.6 billion for the republic’s purported termination of their land-use rights, finding that the objections are too intertwined with the merits for separate adjudication.

  • April 14, 2026

    Judge Won’t Quash Subpoenas To Enforce 79.5M Euro Award Against Spain

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge denied motions by the Kingdom of Spain to stay discovery and quash subpoenas filed by an investment entity seeking to enforce a previously confirmed International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award against Spain worth more than 79.5 million euros and granted the investor’s motion for relief allowing it to execute on the award.

  • April 09, 2026

    Insurers Seek Extension For High Court Challenge To Hurricane Claim Arbitrability

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of foreign and domestic insurers filed an application asking the U.S. Supreme Court for an extension of the deadline for filing their petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling barring arbitration of a hurricane damage policy dispute and denying the applicability of equitable estoppel under state law based on a new Louisiana Supreme Court ruling barring arbitration of such disputes.

  • April 09, 2026

    D.C. Circuit Won’t Stay Mandate Pending Russia’s High Court Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a per curiam order denying the Russian Federation’s motion to stay its mandate affirming the confirmation of awards collectively worth more than $252 million in favor of Ukrainian investors pending a decision on Russia’s petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • April 08, 2026

    D.C. Circuit Grants Quick Confirmation Of $1B Oil Award Against Venezuela

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 7 granted three Exxon Mobil entities’ motion for summary affirmance of the confirmation of an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth roughly $1 billion against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for expropriating oil investments, writing that identical issues to those in the appeal were addressed and resolved by existing precedent.

  • April 08, 2026

    D.C. Circuit Affirms $47M NAFTA Award Against Mexico For Real Estate Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 7 affirmed a federal judge’s ruling granting confirmation of an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award against the United Mexican States and in favor of a Canadian real estate investor worth $47 million for breaches of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), writing that the tribunal properly found that NAFTA applied to the investor’s real estate investments.

  • April 07, 2026

    Judge Confirms $43.5M Award Against Dominican Republic For Landfill Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in full and denied the Dominican Republic’s petition to vacate an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than $43.5 million against it, granted a Jamaican landfill investor’s cross-petition to confirm and denied the investor’s request for attorney fees.

  • April 06, 2026

    Federal Judge: Insurer Contractually Waived Right To Remove Hurricane Maria Suit

    CHRISTIANSTED, Virgin Islands — A federal judge in the Virgin Islands granted an insured’s motion to remand its lawsuit against an insurer and insurance agents arising from its property damage caused by Hurricane Maria, holding that although the insurer established that an arbitration agreement “falls under” the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, it contractually waived its right to remove the lawsuit to the federal court under the Federal Arbitration Act.

  • April 06, 2026

    $2.1M Award In ‘Chipmunks’ Dispute Confirmed Despite Functus Officio Challenge

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge confirmed an arbitral award worth more than $2.1 million in damages and attorney fees in a favor of a French company that brought claims against the owner of the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” franchise, opining that while the arbitrator’s amendment of the award to triple the damages likely contradicted the doctrine of functus officio, the arbitrator did not exceed his authority under the applicable arbitration rules.

  • March 27, 2026

    Panel Affirms Trademark Dispute Award, Will Consider Fees For ‘Frivolous’ Filing

    PHOENIX — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 26 affirmed the confirmation of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award issued in favor of an Italian wine company involved in a dispute over trademark rights with its American distributor and ordered the distributor and its counsel to show cause why an award of attorney fees should not be imposed against them for bringing a “self-indulgent appeal” based on procedural defects and translation issues.

  • March 27, 2026

    Ukrainians Oppose Russia’s Bid To Stay Mandate Pending High Court Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of Ukrainian investors filed a brief urging the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to deny the Russian Federation’s motion to stay its mandate affirming the confirmation of awards worth more than $252 million pending a decision on Russia’s petition for a writ of certiorari, writing that Russia seeks to “rehash” arguments the high court recently “declined to consider.”

  • March 26, 2026

    Judge Orders Attachment Of Paintings Worth $29M To Enforce Chinese Awards

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted an amended petition by two Cayman Island entities for an order of attachment as to two paintings worth more than $29 million, including a work by Andy Warhol, that were purchased by a Chinese woman and were fraudulently conveyed to a company she controls allegedly to avoid enforcement of two China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) awards worth more than $150 million.

  • March 24, 2026

    Insurer Argues Arbitrator Dispute Is Noncommercial, Seeks Remand To State Court

    NEW YORK — An insurance exchange filed a remand motion in a New York federal court, arguing that its suit seeking to disqualify a reinsurer-appointed arbitrator based on his prior representation presents a noncommercial, nonarbitrable dispute over attorney fiduciary duties that belongs in state court, not federal court.

  • March 23, 2026

    Zimbabwe, Mining Regulators Say High Court Need Not Review Sovereign Immunity

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Zimbabwe and its mining regulators filed a brief opposing two Mauritian mining investors’ petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that an alleged split between the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and another circuit court over the “implied waiver” exception to sovereign immunity is not worthy of review and that the D.C. Circuit correctly found no jurisdiction over the investors’ attempt to enforce a $50 million award against the Zimbabwe parties.

  • March 23, 2026

    Judge Orders Discovery In Shipping Arbitration Pending Sanctions Row

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on March 20 granted a shipping investor’s letter motion for discovery in support of its motion for sanctions against Reed Smith LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP and an attorney at each firm for their alleged participation in litigation to confirm a since-vacated JAMS award worth more than $102 million despite allegedly “knowing” that it “had been obtained through fraud.”

  • March 09, 2026

    COMMENTARY: International Arbitration Experts Discuss The Major Challenges For Arbitration In 2026

    [Editor’s Note:  Copyright © 2026, LexisNexis. All rights reserved.]

  • March 20, 2026

    Interview:  JAMS Arbitrator Dr. Anton G. Maurer Discusses Flaws Of ‘U.S.-Style Litigation’ In Arbitrations And Other Procedural Issues

    Copyright © 2026, LexisNexis. All rights reserved.