On April 26 the Brazilian House of Representatives has approved a reform of the Brazilian Labor Code (“Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho”), aiming at rendering the Brazilian labor market more flexible and allowing more negotiation of rights between employers and employees. One new provision expressly allows arbitration in employment agreements, provided that (i) the monthly compensation of the employee is higher than a certain threshold (at least twice the cap on social security pensions); and…
On April 19, the special chamber of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice denied recognition of an arbitral…
Baker McKenzie has released the 10th anniversary edition of its annual International Arbitration Yearbook, an in-depth report reviewing…
A U.S. District Court rejected Argentina’s attempt to vacate a USD 21 million international arbitration award in a proceeding administered by ICSID under the UNCITRAL rules on the grounds of partiality and an improper damage award. Petitioner, the Republic of Argentina, sued to vacate a $20,957,809 international arbitration award entered in favor of Respondent AWG Group Ltd. (“AWG”). Argentina sought to vacate based on claims that (1) there was evident partiality in an arbitrator who…
Last February 9, the Second Section of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ), the highest court for…
On March 1, 2017, the new Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC-Rules”) come into force.…
With the ascension of the Trump administration, there is a question whether the investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”) provisions under the NAFTA will survive. This note examines the potential effects of such a repeal on investors in NAFTA countries. NAFTA contains 22 chapters dealing with trade and governance issues. NAFTA Chapter 11, titled “Investment,” deals with each state’s treatment of investments made by nationals of other NAFTA parties. Chapter 11 provides protections against mistreatment of investments,…
Investment treaty arbitrations may be brought under the rules of many different arbitration institutions. As can be expected,…
Post-M&A arbitration has long followed an established pattern: In the course of the transaction the buyer assesses the…
On December 23, 2016 the Brazilian Senate approved a bill for a new law to regulate public bidding procedure (the “Bill”). In Brazil contracts with state entities in principle shall be subject to such public bidding procedures, which include invitation for qualified interested parties to participate in the bid, as well as publication of draft agreements for the bidders’ comments before the bid. The Public Bids Bill expressly authorizes arbitration on contracts involving state-owned entities,…