In Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp., No. 04-11432 (Jan. 11, 2006), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in a case which did not involve reinsurance) affirmed the judgment of a District Court vacating an arbitration award due to the failure of the sole arbitrator to disclose that his law firm served as co-counsel in an unrelated case with counsel for one of the parties in 1990 – 1996. The Court found that the failure to disclose the prior relationship created a reasonable impression of possible partiality that warranted vacating the arbitration award. The evidence was undisputed that the party against which the arbitration award had been entered did not know of the relationship until after the entry of the award. On May 5, 2006, the Fifth Circuit granted a petition for rehearing en banc, setting the matter for argument in September 2006.
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