New Arbitration Ordered After Arbitrator's Unexpected Withdrawal

NEW YORK - In the wake of a party arbitrator's withdrawal, a New York federal judge ordered a new arbitration and refused to confirm an interim award that designates New York law as governing the issue of allocation of underlying environmental claims. In re Insurance Company of North America, No. 08-7003 (S.D. N.Y.).

In a Dec. 12 order, U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York noted that the Federal Arbitration Act only allows federal courts to confirm final arbitration awards. The award at issue fails "to decide every point …