Judge Orders Arbitrators to Appoint Umpire in $6.5 Million Dispute

BOSTON, Mass. - A federal judge has denied Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.'s petition to appoint an umpire to oversee the arbitration of a $6.5 million reinsurance dispute and ordered the party-arbitrators to proceed with the umpire selection process as contemplated by the treaties. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., et al., No. 11-10651 (D. Mass.).

On July 7, Judge Douglas P. Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the arbitrators should proceed with the selection process "without intermeddling, obstruction, interference, or other direction from the parties or counsel regarding their refinements …