Forum Shopping and Post-Award Judgments

Abstract

Forum shopping has become increasingly common in the context of post-award judgments. Post-award judgments can take several forms, depending on whether the award is set aside, confirmed, recognized or enforced. Creative parties may forum shop for a set-aside, confirmation, recognition or enforcement judgment and seek to rely on its effects in subsequent proceedings relating to the same award in another country. The courts in that other country will have to assess the effects they give to the foreign post-award judgment, including under existing doctrines of res judicata, issue/claim estoppel. The paper examines how courts should respond to such forum shopping attempts. It assesses whether a decision to set aside, confirm, recognize or enforce an arbitral award might affect subsequent attempts to recognize or enforce that award elsewhere.

Keywords: award, post-award judgment, set-aside judgment, recognition judgment, confirmation judgment, forum shopping, parallel entitlement, res judicata, claim estoppel, issues estoppel, Dallah, Putraballi, Yukos, Baker Marine, Spier, TermoRio, Restatement of the Law (Third) U.S. Law of International