DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS: AUSTRALIAN COURT FINDS UNLIQUIDATED DAMAGES CLAIM OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF A NARROWLY DRAFTED ARBITRATION AGREEMENT

05 May, 2020
In Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited v Hannigan [2020] NSWCA 82, the New South Wales Court of Appeal found that a claim for unliquidated damages for breach of contract could not be referred to arbitration because it was not within the scope of a narrowly drafted arbitration agreement. Relevantly, the scope of the arbitration agreement was … Read more

MALAYSIA’S HIGH COURT ALLOWS JUDICIAL INQUIRY OF DAMAGES FOR A WRONGFULLY GRANTED COURT-ORDERED INJUNCTION WITHOUT AWAITING THE OUTCOME OF THE ARBITRATION

02 October, 2019
In Jaks Island Circle Sdn Bhd v Star Media Group Bhd and Another (Originating Summons No. WA-24C(ARB)-11-02/2018), the Malaysian High Court considered whether an inquiry of damages arising out of an undertaking by an applicant to pay damages for an injunction wrongly granted by a court in support of arbitration proceedings should await the outcome … Read more

US District Court in New York reviews AAA Appellate arbitral panel decision with the same deference as arbitral awards under the FAA

06 March, 2019
On February 14, 2019, in considering cross applications to vacate and confirm an arbitration award, the United States District Court, S.D. New York decided to grant the same deference to a decision made by an appellate arbitration panel as is given to an arbitral award under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) (Hamilton v. Navient Solutions, … Read more

Hong Kong Court of Appeal ends 12-year Xiamen v Eton Properties saga

08 January, 2019
As discussed in this post, Xiamen Xingjingdi Group Co Ltd (XJ) and various co-defendants affiliated with Eton Properties Ltd (together, EP) have been involved in a long-running dispute in multiple fora, including a PRC-seated CIETAC arbitration and several Hong Kong court proceedings. The case appears now to have come to an end, with the Court … Read more

Bear Creek Mining Corp. v. Peru: the potential impact on damages of an investor’s contributory action and failure to obtain a social license

26 January, 2018
In an award dated 30 November 2017 (the “Award“), an ICSID Tribunal ordered Peru to pay around US$30.4million to Canadian company Bear Creek Mining (the “Claimant“) following its finding that a 2011 decree (“Decree 032“) constituted an unlawful indirect expropriation of the Claimant’s right to operate the Santa Ana mine (the “Project“). This post discusses … Read more

Dubai Court of Cassation dismisses claim for damages made against arbitral tribunal

21 January, 2016
Dubai’s Court of Cassation dismisses Meydan Group’s claim against Doug Jones, Humphrey Lloyd QC and Stephen Furst QC who were acting as arbitrators in a dispute between Meydan Group and WCT Holding. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Dubai in particular, is fast building a reputation as a preferred seat for international arbitration. It is, … Read more

Delay causes English Court to deny anti-suit injunction in respect of foreign proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement

20 November, 2015
A recent case in the English High Court (the Court) demonstrates the need to act promptly when seeking an anti-suit injunction in relation to proceedings in a foreign court. The claimant, Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL) sought an anti-suit injunction in respect of proceedings brought by the respondent, Bank of China Ltd (the Bank) in the … Read more

The largest Arbitration Awards in history: Three Majority shareholders in Yukos awarded total damages of over $50bn from the Russian Federation

14 August, 2014
On 18 July 2014, the Claimants in three related arbitrations administered under the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty and the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules prevailed against the Russian Federation.  The Claimants[1] were former shareholders of the OAO Yukos Oil Company (“Yukos”), which had emerged in the early 2000s as the largest private oil company in post-Soviet … Read more