Insurers Did Not Waive Right to Remove Case under Convention, La. Federal Judge Rules

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge ruled that the defendant insurers in a coverage dispute did not waive their right to remove the case to federal court under the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards because there was no “clear and unequivocal waiver.”

On Nov. 19, Judge Donald E. Walter of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana found that the insurers never explicitly stated that they were waiving their right to remove the case. Moreover, they did not implicitly waive their right by litigating in state court because they removed the …