Represented Raymond Loewen in this first-ever investor-state arbitration under NAFTA's Chapter 11 brought against the U.S. government. The Loewen Group Inc. and Raymond Loewen pursued relief under NAFTA against the United States on the basis that a $500 M jury verdict rendered against it in Mississippi and a Mississippi Supreme Court Order requiring a $625 M bond in order to obtain a stay of execution constituted a breach of the international minimum standard of justice.
The NAFTA arbitrators found that a breach of the standard of justice had been proven, but dismissed the claim on jurisdictional grounds and a further application of the Federal Court for review was also dismissed on technical grounds. (The Loewen Group, Inc. and Haymond L. Loewen v. United States of America (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/98/3)