Guest Summary: Wash. Federal Court Enforces Mandatory Arbitration Clause

[Editor's note: Alex Silverman of Carlton Fields represents U.S. and international insurers and reinsurers in complex commercial litigation and arbitration, including complex insurance coverage disputes and reinsurance matters.]

TACOMA, Wash. — Defendants, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s and their third-party claims administrator, CJW & Associates, asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to enforce a mandatory arbitration clause in a Lloyd’s policy issued to the plaintiffs.

Enforcement of the provision depended on the interplay between four laws: a Washington statute barring mandatory arbitration clauses in insurance contracts; Article II, Section 3 of the Convention on the …