Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

INTERNATIONAL-REINSURANCEREMOVAL PETITION-FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT-UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN ARBITRAL AWARDS

The court denied a petition by reinsurers to remove the state court action to federal court on the ground that the petition was procedurally defective because it failed to name all the reinsurers and because the reinsurers failed to prove that the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (Convention), as implemented by Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), does not require that all defendants must join in a notice of removal.

Employers Insurance of Wausau, a Wisconsin corporation, was a party to several "blanket excess retrocessional reinsurance treaties" with individuals engaged in the business of underwriting insurance and reinsurance risks at Lloyd's of London and insurance companies doing business in London, England (referred to collectively as the "reinsurers"). Under the reinsurance treaties, the reinsurers agreed to be bound by Employers' loss settlements. A dispute arose when the reinsurers began to deny payments for asbestos loss settlements claimed by Employers under the reinsurance treaties. Employers filed an action in state court and its petition to compel arbitration was granted. Some of the reinsurers sought to remove the action to federal court. The petition was denied because not all the reinsurers were named in the notice of removal and the district court remanded the matter to state court. The reinsurers filed a second notice. At issue was whether the Convention requires that all the reinsurers in this case join in the petition for removal.