JSC Surgutneftegaz v. President and Fellows of Harvard College
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
2005 WL 1863676 (2005)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
The President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard) (defendant) owned shares in JSC Surgutneftegaz (Surgutneftegaz) (plaintiff), a Russian company, pursuant to an agreement that provided for arbitration of any shares-related dispute. The arbitration clause specifically provided that arbitration should take place under American Arbitration Association (AAA) rules, but elsewhere the agreement suggested that arbitration could take place in England under English rules. A dispute arose when Russian courts ruled that Surgutneftegaz’s managers could withhold shareholder-dividend payments. Harvard had not been a party to the Russian litigation. Harvard announced its intention to arbitrate the dispute. Surgutneftegaz sued Harvard in federal district court, where Surgutneftegaz moved to stay arbitration on public-policy grounds of international comity, the corporate internal-affairs doctrine, and forum non conveniens. Surgutneftegaz also argued that any arbitration should take place in England under English rules.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Casey, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
