{"id":901870,"date":"2023-11-15T15:05:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T22:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=901870"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:05:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T22:05:58","slug":"international-arbitration-not-always-who-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/international-arbitration-not-always-who-you-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Litigation Roundup: \u201cApparently, It\u2019s Not Always Who You Know\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Daniel Lund III | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lexology.com\/library\/detail.aspx?g=b5a428ef-e7b6-40b8-8e1b-659bf50d88d1&amp;utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&amp;utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+General+section&amp;utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&amp;utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2023-11-13&amp;utm_term=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Phelps Dunbar<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A respondent party in a pair of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/international-arbitration-united-states\/\">international arbitrations<\/a> on the losing end of roughly $285,000,000 in adverse awards attacked the awards based upon arbitrator bias.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf there is one bedrock rule in the law of arbitration, it is that a federal court can vacate an arbitral award only in exceptional circumstances. \u2026 The presumption against vacatur applies with even greater force when a federal court reviews an award rendered during an international arbitration.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applying the Federal Arbitration Act (according to the court, the international arbitrations were \u201cseated\u201d in the United States and fell under the New York Convention, such that the FAA is required to be the basis for vacatur efforts), the court examined assertions that certain alleged non-disclosures by the panel \u201cconcealed information related to the arbitrators\u2019 possible biases and thereby \u2018deprived [respondent] of [its] fundamental right to a fair and consensual dispute resolution process.\u2019\u201d The aggrieved party urged that one arbitrator\u2019s undisclosed nomination of another arbitrator to serve as president of another arbitral panel \u2013 \u201ca position that sometimes pays hundreds of thousands of dollars\u201d \u2013 possibly influenced the second arbitrator to side with the first. Assertions were also levied that the arbitrators\u2019 undisclosed work with the attorneys for the claimant in other arbitrations \u201callowed them to become familiar with each other, creating a potential conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The appellate court, finding that nothing occurred which was nefarious, wrote: \u201cIt is little wonder, and of little concern, that elite members of the small international arbitration community cross paths in their work. As one of the [claimant\u2019s] expert witnesses testified, \u2018[w]orldwide, there are only several dozen arbitrators who would be attractive candidates\u2019 for \u2018a proceeding such as the Panama 1 Arbitration.\u2019 We refuse to grant vacatur simply because these people worked together elsewhere.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Digging deeper, the appellate court assessed the circumstances under Article V of the New York Convention, \u201cwhich provides a defense to an arbitral award if \u2018[t]he recognition or enforcement of the award would be contrary to\u2026 public policy\u2026 . Undeniably, there is&nbsp;a public policy in the United States against \u2018evident partiality.\u2019 \u2026 But, as we have already discussed, that public policy was not violated in this case.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, the appellate court examined whether the matter of the lack of initial disclosures violated the parties\u2019 agreement to arbitrate or United States law: \u201cThe record does not reflect an issue with the composition of the tribunal due to the arbitrators\u2019 late disclosures. \u2026 The parties appointed arbitrators, who affirmed their independence and disclosed any potential conflicts. \u2026 [Respondent] challenged the arbitrators based on the late disclosures, and the ICA followed the proper procedure when denying that challenge. \u2026 True, the ICA noted that Gaitskell should have disclosed his case where McMullan appeared and that von Wobeser should have disclosed his case with Jana. But it did not disqualify either arbitrator for those reasons because it did not find any facts that led it to question either arbitrator&#8217;s independence or impartiality.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, the decision here could have gone either way, reinforcing the maxim directed to arbitrators: fully disclose!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-11th-circuit\/114903534.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><em>Grupo Unidos por el Canal, S.A. v. Autoridad Del Canal de Panama, 78 F.4th 1252 (11th Cir. 2023)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Lund III | Phelps Dunbar A respondent party in a pair of international arbitrations on the losing end of roughly $285,000,000 in adverse awards attacked the awards based upon arbitrator bias.\u00a0 \u201cIf there is one bedrock rule in the law of arbitration, it is that a federal court can vacate an arbitral award only&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/international-arbitration-not-always-who-you-know\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Construction Litigation Roundup: \u201cApparently, It\u2019s Not Always Who You Know\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[9895,42],"class_list":["post-901870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arbitration","tag-advise-consult","tag-arbitration-2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Construction Litigation Roundup: \u201cApparently, It\u2019s Not Always Who You Know\u201d - Advise &amp; 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