
UNITED STATES 31 January 2023 Parish of St Charles
United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, 31 January 2023, CIVIL ACTION NO. 22-3404 SECTION M (5); 22-3405; 22-3407; 22-3408; 22-3411; 22-3412; 22-3413; 22-3414; 22-3415; 22-3416; 22-3417
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United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, 31 January 2023, CIVIL ACTION NO. 22-3404 SECTION M (5); 22-3405; 22-3407; 22-3408; 22-3411; 22-3412; 22-3413; 22-3414; 22-3415; 22-3416; 22-3417
(Parish of St. Charles v. HDI Global Specialty SE, et al.)
UNITED STATES 31 January 2023 Parish of St Charles
The District Court granted the motion to compel arbitration of an Hurricane Ida insurance dispute. The Court held that three of the four jurisdictional requirements for compelling arbitration under the New York Convention were undisputedly met: there was a written agreement to arbitrate in the insurance policy; the agreement provided for arbitration in a Convention signatory, the United States; and the agreement arose out of a commercial legal relationship. As to the fourth requirement, that at least one party to the agreement not be a US citizen, the Parish did not dispute that it was bound to arbitrate its claims against two of the defendants, which were not US citizens, but argued that its claims against the nine domestic insurers did not fall under the Convention, and equitable estoppel did not apply to prevent it from arbitrating those claims. The Court disagreed, holding that equitable estoppel was warranted because the Parish’s claims against non-US and US defendants were inextricably intertwined.
Multi-party disputes: The court discusses under which conditions non-signatories are covered by an arbitration agreement entered into by another party.