In a dispute between two insurance companies regarding an underwriting agreement, the arbitrator selection process broke down when the arbitrators could not agree on appointment of the umpire. Each party raised concerns about the qualifications of the other party’s umpire nominees and reached such an impasse that they resorted to the courts for declaratory relief. The trial court entered a temporary injunction ordering the plaintiff to desist from arbitrating or litigating until the umpire selection dispute could be resolved and entered an order compelling arbitration and plaintiff’s participation in the umpire selection process as provided by the arbitration clause in the underwriting agreement. Plaintiff challenged both orders in an interlocutory appeal. The appellate court lacked jurisdiction to review the order to compel arbitration in an interlocutory appeal because the Federal Arbitration Act prohibits such review, but did affirm the temporary injunction. Drobny v. American National Insurance Co., Case No. 01-12-01034-CV (Tex. App. Aug. 29, 2013).
This post written by Abigail Kortz.
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