Fourth Circuit Rules Litigants Must Assert Arbitration Rights in Foreign Litigation to Preserve Them

Litigants Should Expressly and Unequivocally Assert Arbitration Rights Early in Foreign Litigation—Fourth Circuit Ruling Suggests Failure to Do So Might Result in Forfeiture

In Iraq Middle Market Development Foundation v. Mohommad Ali Mohammad Harmoosh, the Fourth Circuit clarified the standard district courts should apply to determine whether an arbitration clause provides a viable means of invalidating an adverse foreign judgment. The Fourth Circuit explained that a party seeking to enforce an arbitration clause must expressly assert the right to arbitrate in both domestic litigation and in foreign tribunals.