Elina Zlatanska, Visiting Research Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, has authored “To Publish, or Not to Publish Arbitral Awards: That is the Question…,” 81 International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management, Number 1, 2015. In her research paper, Ms. Zlatanska examines some potential pros and cons of establishing a publication mechanism for international commercial arbitral awards.

Texas’ 14th District Court of Appeals in Houston has overturned a district court’s order denying arbitration in an employment dispute. In The Subsea Co. v. Payan, et al., No. 14–13–00849–CV (Tex. App – Houston [14th Dist.], September 18, 2014), an oil and gas specialty component manufacturer, The Subsea Company, hired a woman to serve as an account manufacturer.

The United States Supreme Court has been asked to review a Supreme Court of Texas decision overturning a $26 million arbitration award. In Robert L. Myer, et al. v. Americo Life, Inc., et al., No. 14-774, a divided Texas court overturned a unanimous arbitration award after the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) disqualified one party’s selected arbitrator due to partiality.

A Houston-based oil and gas company has withdrawn its mid-January request for arbitration before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”). On January 16th, Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. reportedly asked the ICSID to consider its case against the Government of Venezuela in an effort to protect its 32 percent stake in the Petrodelta joint oil and gas venture.