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Date: 06-06-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 22-CV-4049
Judge: Jane Triche Milazzo
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Orleans Parish)
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Lori D. Barker, Ashley E. Bane, Madeleine E Fosberg
Description: New Orleans, Louisiana insurance law lawyers represented Plaintiff who sued Defendants on bad faith breach of contract theories.
Plaintiffs, Robert Harvey Jr., Jane Harvey, and Louisiana Medical Management Corporation allege that Defendants Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London and Other Insurers Subscribing to Binding Authority No. B6045105686220211 and Independent Specialty Insurance Company breached their insurance policy (“the Policy”) and acted in bad faith in failing to provide coverage for damages sustained to their property during Hurricane Ida.[1]
Defendants have moved to compel arbitration of this dispute pursuant to an arbitration agreement in the Policy. Plaintiffs have not filed an opposition to this Motion. The Court may not, however, simply grant the instant Motion as unopposed. The Fifth Circuit approaches the automatic grant of dispositive motions with considerable aversion.[2] Instead, the Court will consider the Motion's merits.
Defendant argues that the arbitration clause at issue is enforceable under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“the Convention”) and the FAA. The United States joined the Convention in 1970.[3] The Supreme Court has explained that “[t]he goal of the Convention was to encourage the recognition and enforcement of commercial arbitration agreements in international contracts and to unify the standards by which agreements to arbitrate are observed and arbitral awards are enforced in the signatory countries.”[4] The Convention applies to arbitration agreements between citizens of nations that are signatories to the Convention. The United States and England are signatories.
Under the Convention, courts “[s]hould compel arbitration if (1) there is an agreement in writing to arbitrate the disputes, (2) the agreement provides for arbitration in the territory of a Convention signatory, (3) the relationship
arises out of a commercial legal relationship, and (4) a party to the agreement is not an American citizen.”[5] If these four requirements are met, “the Convention requires the district court [ ] to order arbitration . . . unless it finds that said agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed.”[6]
The arbitration provision at issue provides in relevant part that:
All matters in dispute between you and us (referred to in this policy as “the parties”) in relation to this insurance, including this policy's formation and validity, and whether arising during or after the period of this insurance, shall be referred to an Arbitration Tribunal in the manner described below.[7]
It directs that any arbitration hearing shall take place in Nashville, Tennessee.
Accordingly, the four requirements of the Convention are met. First, there is a written agreement to arbitrate contained in the Policy. Second, the provision provides for arbitration in Tennessee, which is within a signatory country.[8] Third, the insurance agreement arises out of a commercial legal relationship between Plaintiffs and Defendants. And fourth, Defendants allege that two of the members subscribing to the Policy through the Lloyd's of London insurance market, RenaissanceRe Corporate Capital (UK) Limited and RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. LTD, are citizens of England and Wales.[9]Finally, Plaintiffs' breach of contract and bad faith claims fall squarely within the scope of the Policy's arbitration agreement.[10] Because the four requirements of the Convention are met and there has been no suggestion that the “agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed,” the Court must order arbitration.
Defendants have asked the Court to stay this matter pending arbitration. Pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 3, the Court “shall on application of one of the parties stay the trial of the action until such arbitration has been had in accordance with the terms of the agreement.” Accordingly, this matter must be stayed pending resolution of the arbitration proceedings.
Outcome: Based on the foregoing, the Motion to Compel Arbitration is GRANTED. IT IS ORDERED that matter is STAYED and ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED pending the resolution of the arbitration proceedings.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: