International Arbitration
With increasing frequency, commercial transactions and ensuing business disputes know no boundaries. Our attorneys have extensive experience in obtaining justice in such cases through the procedures available for international arbitration. Our experience includes litigating matters before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) pursuant to its International Rules, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and the World Intellectual Property Law Organization (WIPO).
Selected Results *
- Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy v. Phillips Beverage Company: Trial counsel for defendant in $100 Million international arbitration proceeding brought by French multi-national seller of luxury goods arising from alleged breach of trademark license agreement; obtained a complete defense verdict and an award of fees from unanimous three member panel.
- Represented a venture capital firm in an arbitration administered by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, the international arm of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). A foreign limited partner brought claims including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud, among others. The arbitration included one week of testimony in San Francisco, one week in London, followed by an oral argument in Toronto. A three-arbitrator panel consisting of one barrister and one solicitor from the U.K. and one barrister from Canada, ruled in favor of our client.
- Represented Malette Inc. from Montreal and its property insurers Canadian Industrial Risk Insurers (CIRI) and Gerling Global General Insurance against a German manufacturer, Siempelkamp. The commercial dispute involved the catastrophic collapse of a six story Siempelkamp press and subsequent fire that caused extensive damage to Malette's OSB plant in Timmins Ontario. The loss of OSB production affected construction costs in North America. The contract between Malette and Siempelkamp called for International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration which involved the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, and included Zurich as the forum. Forum selection is important for reasons relating to the enforcement of an arbitration award. Our local counsel, who actually teaches at the ICC Court was Parisian lawyer Alex Blumrosen. The matter was mediated and settled in Zurich.
- Represented an Estonian port and Russian timber processing plant in a dispute with an Italian manufacturer of lumber processing equipment. The matter was resolved through the procedures available for international arbitration by the International Chamber of Commerce.
- Haagen-Dazs International Shoppe Company, Inc. v. Corporacion Todosabor C.A.: Counsel for Haagen-Dazs International Shoppe Company, Inc. in defending a claim brought by Corporacion Todosabor C.A. regarding a dispute over a franchise agreement. The matter went to international arbitration and Corporacion Todosabor C.A.'s claim was dismissed and judgment was entered on behalf of Haagen-Dazs International.
- Racal NCS, Inc. v. Alliant Techsystems Inc., The Raytheon Group, Hughes Aircraft Company (Miami, Florida) (AAA International Centre for Dispute Resolution): Defense trial counsel before an international tribunal in a contract and fraud dispute relating to the sale and performance of an underwater sonar device used for mapping ocean floors for the installation of optic fibre communication cables.
- Private contractual arbitration between Canadian insurance company and a manufacturer of computer processors arising out of a fire at a manufacturing plant. The multi-million dollar claim was arbitrated before a panel of two accountants and a retired judge who issued a ruling valuing the loss of profits claim of the manufacturer.
- Represented insurance company in arbitration against its treaty reinsurer based in Guernsey. The reinsurer refused to pay numerous claims settled by our client, alleging that our client misrepresented the scope of its coverage and failed to follow its underwriting guidelines. The arbitration panel ruled that the reinsurer was required to pay most of those claims. The arbitration was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Litigation Practices > International Arbitration