Texas’ Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston has reversed a trial court’s order denying arbitration in a legal malpractice dispute. In Greenberg Traurig, LLP v. National American Ins. Co., National American Insurance Company (NAICO) retained the services of an attorney at Greenberg Traurig, LLP (Greenberg) to defend Okie Foundation Drilling Co., Inc. (Okie) in an appeal in an accidental death case.

Texas’ First District Court of Appeals in Houston has affirmed a trial court’s ruling that it was up to an arbitral panel to determine whether it had jurisdiction to hear a corporate tax dispute. In Halliburton Co. v. KBR, Inc., No. 01-12-00949-CV, (Tex. App – Houston, September 11, 2014), Halliburton spun off its wholly-owned subsidiary KBR in 2007. Prior to the separation, the companies entered into a number of agreements including a Master Services Agreement (MSA) that referenced a Tax Sharing Agreement (TSA).

Retired Judge Judith S. Kaye, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and University of Missouri School of Law Professor S.I. Strong recently published International Commercial Arbitration Coming to a Courthouse Near You, 53 Judges’ Journal 20 (Summer 2014); University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-20.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has overturned a lower court’s decision not to compel arbitration in an oil & gas dispute. In Rushaid v. National Oilwell Varco, Inc., an oil drilling company (“Rushaid”) entered into a number of contracts with a group of related oil well companies.