A federal judge in New York had discretion to vacate a previously approved confirmation of a $57 million arbitration award against the government of Laos after the award was tossed out by a foreign court, an appeals court ruled.
The case, which involves a dispute between the government of Laos and a Thailand-based company over mining contracts, presented a novel issue for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: how a court should approach a motion to vacate its own confirmation of an arbitration award after foreign courts with jurisdiction over the arbitration panel later sets aside the award.
