The court’s analysis is based on policy text and Louisiana law. Contract allocation support – Treating the policy as “a separate contract between the insured and each underwriter” means that once the foreign insurers were dismissed with prejudice, no foreign parties remained to any arbitration agreement, so the convention did not apply. With the convention off the table, Louisiana’s prohibition on arbitration clauses in insurance policies became controlling, and the Court held that equitable estoppel and a delegation clause could not overcome that barrier. For Louisiana property risks written on multi-insurer surplus line programs, it points to litigation – not arbitration – as the expected forum and confirms that endorsements will control where they conflict with the base policy language.
Fifth Circuit blocks arbitration in Louisiana surplus line insurance disputes & more related News Here
