Arbitrators Must Decide ‘Procedural’ Consolidation Issue, Pa. Federal Judge Rules

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Arbitrators, not the court, should determine whether the parties in a reinsurance dispute should appoint a new arbitration panel to decide whether related proceedings should be consolidated because the issue is procedural in nature, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled.

In a March 14 order, Judge John Jones III of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania also granted Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co.’s motion to seal certain documents, including the reinsurance treaties at issue.

From 1991 to 1996, Penn National entered into several excess-of-loss reinsurance treaties with multiple reinsurers, including Everest Reinsurance …