International Legal Consulting Ltd. v. Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd.

International Legal Consulting Ltd. (ILC) (plaintiff) provided negotiation and consulting services to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd. (Malabu) (defendant) to facilitate the transfer and sale of Malabu’s interest in a Nigerian oil-prospecting license (the license) to other entities. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) had initially granted the license to Malabu, revoked it, and then reallocated it to Malabu in 2010. Under ILC and Malabu’s fee agreement, ILC would receive a 6 percent “success fee” for its services. Malabu’s sale of the license yielded over $1 billion in proceeds, and thus ILC contended it was owed over $65.5 million. Malabu disputed the amount. The proceeds from the license sale were initially placed in a New York escrow account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank (JP Morgan) (defendant) pursuant to an escrow agreement. Once the terms of the escrow agreement were fulfilled in May 2011, the funds were deposited into a bank account in the London branch of JP Morgan (the London account). The London account was in FGN’s name. In June 2011, ILC commenced a garnishment action in New York state court against Malabu, seeking to attach funds that ILC believed were in the New York escrow account. The New York branch of JP Morgan was served, and the court issued an ex parte order of attachment. In July 2011, ILC initiated arbitration against Malabu in London as required by the parties’ fee agreement. Thereafter, in the New York action, ILC sought to confirm the court’s order of attachment and/or obtain a preliminary injunction to preserve the London account while the arbitration was pending.