Work Area: Commercial arbitration

Venezuela must arbitrate a €425 million dispute with the owners and insurer of a cruise ship over a bizarre maritime showdown that resulted in the sinking of a navy patrol boat, a London court has ruled, while refusing to block the state from pursuing foreign parallel litigation.

29 June 2022

A Swiss oil trader says it has won an LCIA award that cancels debts of over US$1 billion to Russia’s Sberbank after the majority state-owned financial institution was found to have driven a Siberian refinery into bankruptcy.

27 June 2022

A subsidiary of a Spanish-British renewables producer has launched the latest in a series of UNCITRAL claims against Argentina’s electricity market manager at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, as another such case is discontinued.

24 June 2022

A Brazil v Rest of the World football match organised as part of the ICCA Congress in Rio de Janeiro over a decade ago has been cited as part of a failed bid to annul an award in a €70 million ICC dispute, after it was argued that Italian arbitrator Stefano Azzali should have disclosed he played in the game alongside one of the lead counsel.

22 June 2022

A US appeals court has dismissed a Lithuanian company’s bid to enforce a US$20 million award issued by a Vilnius-seated tribunal against Tajikistan’s national airline, agreeing that a lower court lacked personal jurisdiction over the flag carrier.

21 June 2022

Simon Chapman QC and Charlotte Benton of Herbert Smith Freehills discuss their recent success before the Hong Kong Court of Appeal on the issue of pre-conditions to arbitration, and what the practical consequences of this decision are for users around the world.

14 June 2022

The US Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling that parties cannot seek discovery for foreign commercial and investor-state arbitration in federal courts – bringing an end to a long-standing circuit split.

13 June 2022

A Danish biotech company has renewed its dispute with Belgium’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals, claiming US$405 million over a blood cancer treatment just weeks after a tribunal dismissed an earlier arbitration concerning the same licensing agreement.

10 June 2022

A Greek contractor has applied to enforce a US$105 million ICC award against an Iraqi state ports company over a record-breaking sea wall whose construction was allegedly delayed by an ISIS offensive and other issues.

07 June 2022

A Singapore court has upheld a SIAC award favouring Laos in a long-running casino dispute, ruling the tribunal was within its rights to bar two gaming companies from raising claims argued in a prior arbitration.

06 June 2022