Insurer sue three reinsurers to recover amounts paid in loss settlements for asbestos-related injuries on behalf of ACandS.

Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. v. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co., Case No. 3:11-cv-00107 (D. Conn. Jan. 19, 2011).

On January 19, 2011, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company (“Travelers”) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut against three reinsurers who allegedly failed to pay valid claims. Travelers seeks a declaration of coverage and damages for breach of contract. The suit involves reinsurance treaties referred to as Travelers Blanket Excess of Loss Reinsurance Agreements, covering April 1976 through April 1979.

In its

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Insurer cannot avoid stay of litigation in favor of arbitration where arbitration agreement was between the insured-contractor and owner of construction project and arbitration was demanded immediately after answers were filed.

The Law Company, Inc. v. The United Drywall Group, LLC, Case No. 10-1241-JTM, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1344 (D. Kan., Jan. 6, 2011).

An insured contractor entered into a construction contract with a project owner. The parties’ contract included an arbitration agreement. The insurer issued payment and performance bonds on the project but had no arbitration agreement with the project owner. The owner filed suit in federal court against the contractor and its insurer, then sought a stay of the proceeding to compel arbitration with

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Court Concludes that Arbitration Clause is Broad Enough to Cover Dispute

Joiner v. Performance Insurance Services, Inc, 2010 U.S. Dist. Lexis 133358 (S.D. MS. December 16, 2010)

In a dispute over whether to compel arbitration, an insurance agent in Mississippi entered into a producer agreement with an Indiana company pursuant to which it solicited and submitted 80 insurance policies.  After a complaint was made by the agent to the Mississippi Department of Insurance regarding the Indiana company’s practice of charging an inspection fee on each policy regardless of whether or not an inspection was being performed,

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Third Circuit Determined That Arbitrators Exceeded Authority by Rewriting Parties’ Contract; Award Vacated.

PMA Capital Ins. Co. v. Platinum Underwriters Bermuda, Ltd., No. 09-3963, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 23222 (3rd Cir., Nov. 8, 2010).

The Third Circuit affirmed a District Court’s vacatur of an arbitration award on the grounds that the arbitrators, by granting unrequested relief and rewriting the parties’ contract, exceeded their authority. PMA Capital (“PMA”) is an insurance company and Platinum Underwriters (“Platinum”) is a reinsurance company. Platinum and PMA entered into a contract by which Platinum indemnified PMA for obligations arising from its insurance

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District Court Affirms Arbitration Award In Reinsurance Dispute Holding Motion To Vacate Decision Was Untimely And Lacked Merit

R&Q Reinsurance Co. v. American Motorist Ins. Co.  (United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, October 14, 2010)

Petitioner sought to vacate an underlying arbitration award stemming from a reinsurance contract dispute between R&Q and Lumbermens regarding a series of Blanket Excess of Loss Reinsurance Contracts.  Lumbermens demanded arbitration against R&Q seeking to recover amounts billed under the contract relating to three claims totaling approximately $1.5 million. 

The Panel's Final Award, which it issued on February 5, 2010, closely resembled the draft award Lumbermens

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District Court vacates confirmation of arbitration award entered in favor of U.S. company against Brazilian state-owned entity for lack of jurisdiction

Aurum Asset Managers, LLC v. Banco Do Estado Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Misc. Action No. 08-102, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109577 (E.D. Pa., Oct. 13, 2010)

Aurum, a Pennsylvania company, sought Court approval of an arbitration award against Banrisul, a state-owned financial institution organized under the laws of the Federal Republic of Brazil with its principal place of business in Brazil. Banrisul owned Uniao, an entity that contributed to GESB, a reinsurance pool of Brazilian insurance companies. In 1997, Banrisul sold Uniao to

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Petition to compel arbitration in federal court dismissed after state court had already made determination on the issue

Kaplan v. Divosta Homes, L.P., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107454 (M.D. FL Oct. 7, 2010)

 In a suit for rescission of a contract for the purchase of a house, fraud, discrimination in the enforcement of covenants and restrictions, and a claim of personal injury, a Florida state court issued an order compelling arbitration of the rescission and fraud claims, but denying arbitration on the discrimination and the personal injury claims. This decision was affirmed by a Florida state appellate court.

 The discrimination and personal

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District Court Confirmed Arbitration Award Despite Party’s Argument that Arbitrator Exceeded Scope of Its Authority

IKE America, LLC v. Kredit Karte, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91290 (E.D. PA Sept. 1, 2010)

A credit card processing company, Kredit Karte, entered into an agreement under which it agreed to pay referral commissions to IKE America for referring merchants to it for processing services.  The agreement contained an arbitration clause which provides that any “dispute shall be settled in arbitration in Pennsylvania under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association.” 

After IKE America filed for arbitration alleging that

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Fifth Circuit Concludes It Lacks Inherent Authority to Impose Sanctions for Conduct During Arbitration

 

Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp.

(5th Cir. (Tx.) September 13, 2010)

 

In 2003, Positive Software Solutions, Inc. sued New Century Mortgage Corporation for allegedly infringing telemarketing software licensed to New Century.  The case was ordered to arbitration.  During arbitration, Ophelia Camina, a partner at Susman Godfrey LLP, advised New Century on various discovery matters.  The arbitrator had a previous professional relationship with Camina, which caused the district court to vacate the arbitration award.  The

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Failure to Show Arbitrator Understood Law Precludes Vacatur of Arbitration Award Based on “Manifest Disregard” of Law

Wachovia Sec., LLC v. Brand

(D. S.C. Aug. 26, 2010)

 

A federal court in South Carolina recently refused to vacate an arbitration award on the ground that the arbitrators made the award in “manifest disregard” of the law. The court noted that even if it accepted the plaintiff’s allegations as true, the plaintiff failed to show that the arbitrators understood the statute under which they awarded attorneys’ fees and costs against the plaintiff, a requirement for overturning an award for “manifest disregard” of the

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