Federal Judge Lifts Stay, Compels Parties to Nominate Umpire Candidates

BATON ROUGE, La. - In light of the 5th Circuit's ruling that state law does not reverse-preempt the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, a federal magistrate judge has lifted the stay on a reinsurance dispute and compelled the parties to nominate qualified umpire candidates. Safety National Casualty Corp. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London, et al., No. 06-30262 (5th Cir.).

On Aug. 16, Magistrate Judge Mark L. Hornsby of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana noted that the Federal Arbitration Act allows courts to "intervene in the arbitral process" if the …