Reinsurance Arbitration Award Should Be Unsealed, 3rd Cir. Affirms

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appellate panel has upheld a trial court’s order unsealing an arbitration award in a reinsurance dispute, affirming that the award constituted a judicial record to which the common-law right of access applied.

In a Dec. 24 opinion, the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel further ruled that Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. did not articulate “a clear and serious injury” that would result from the unsealing of the award.

From 1991 to 1996, Penn National entered into several excess-of-loss reinsurance treaties with multiple reinsurers, including Everest. The treaties were comprised of layers defined …