Mo. Federal Judge Says Convention Supersedes State’s Anti-Arbitration Law, McCarran-Ferguson

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri federal judge has ruled that a coal producer must arbitrate its dispute with a group of foreign insurers over coverage for mine fires because the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards supersedes the state’s anti-arbitration law and the McCarran-Ferguson Act.

In a March 21 order, Judge John A. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri pointed to “mounting” U.S. Supreme Court precedent that the Convention is not preempted by state anti-arbitration statutes. He concluded that the Missouri statute “applies only to domestic legislation and simply does …