Insurers Fail in Arbitration Bid Over Louisiana Property Damage

A federal appeals court lacks jurisdiction to hear a long-running insurance dispute between a Louisiana parish’s governing body and several insurance companies, ending the insurers’ bid to compel arbitration.

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards doesn’t apply to this litigation since there isn’t a foreign party bound to an arbitration agreement at issue in this case, Judge Stephen A. Higginson said Tuesday. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of the insurers’ motion to compel arbitration and remanded the case to the district court.

“Since the Convention’s applicability ...