Federal Judge Seeks to Assign Umpire Appointment Dispute to Magistrate Judge

BOSTON - A federal judge has asked the parties in an umpire appointment dispute to consent to having the case assigned to a magistrate judge, maintaining that such assignment would benefit the administration of justice. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., et al. v. Continental Insurance Co., No. 11-11245 (D. Mass.).

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. has asked Judge Mark L. Wolf of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to appoint an umpire to oversee its reinsurance arbitration with Continental Insurance Co., asserting that the parties have reached a stalemate in the umpire selection process.

In the Dec. 12 order, …