CFJ's Rodney Jacob and Kathy Fisher are representing two Norwegian insurance companies in litigation relating to the proper venue for a wrongful death claim. A federal court judge in Guam ruled on March 9, 2017 on behalf of the companies finding that the dispute belongs in arbitration in Norway under the terms of an underlying arbitration agreement.
Law360 featured the decision in a March 9 article, "Widows, Insurers to Arbitrate $4M Wrongful Death Suit" (subscription required).
According to Jacob as quoted in Law360: "We believe that the court’s decision is based on bedrock [U.S.] Supreme Court and [Ninth] Circuit precedent and one that properly balances the interests of the nations at issue and the particular contracting parties’ agreement. It further adheres to the emphatic federal policy favoring arbitrations of disputes when called for by international commercial agreements."
The case is Hill v. Assuranceforeningen Skuld (Gjensidig) et al, case number 1:15-cv-00025 in the U..S. District Court of Guam.