Herbert Smith Freehills review the decision of the English High Court in XL ICSE v Peter Little [2019] EWHC 1284 (Comm), where a final anti-suit injunction was granted to restraining Peter Little from pursuing litigation proceedings against XL Insurance Company in New York, on the basis that PL was bound by the arbitration agreement mandating a London-seated arbitration.
The authors note that this case is a helpful reminder that where claims are brought in a foreign court under a contract which contains a London arbitration agreement, the English courts show no diffidence in granting an anti-suit injunction to protect the defendant’s contractual right to have any claims brought against it pursued in arbitration, even though the foreign court would not consider the claimant to be bound by the arbitration agreement and might therefore assume jurisdiction over those claims.
